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A

THE NEW YORK!

PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOH, LFNCX AND
TILDEN FOUNDATIONS.

" Daniel Ddu o Geredigion."

L A M J* E T E 11 :

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<;K«»WiK EYltK .-.* AN'S,

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- ' "NUT MATTHKWX

/.rKUV>r\ v \TII:

LAMPETER:

BY

GEORGE EYRE EVANS,

Atithor of

" Cardiganshire : Its Antiquities"
"Aberystwyth: Its Court Leet"

ct'C. , &C.

ILLUSTRATED BY

A. R. T. JONES and A. WEIGHT MATTHEWS.

« - -^ - * ■> *

14 ■• «*

ABERYSTWYTH :

PRINTED BY WILLIAM JONES.

1905.

^4// Rights Reserved.

I id

L

THE NEW YORK

PUBLIC LIBRARY
o * < a < .it

A8TOR, LENOX AND
TILDEN FOUNDATIONS.

R 1 906 L.

• * • I

Subscriber's coin/, No. X0O.

* • * • :

• • «. » >

* • • • h a

• • • € < •

TO

B. M., D. I. J.,

MY
TRUSTY FELLOW WORKERS.

PISTES.

"Daniel Ddu"

Frontispiece

Esau Evans

To face page 2

Whipping Post and Stocks

>>

34

John Battersby Harford

)>

44

Badge of Mayoral Chain

»>

48

Old Town Hall

n

50

Emblems on Font

»>

58

Parish Font ... ... ...

»

60

St. David's College, from the Bryn

»»

90

„ „ Fish Pond and Cloisters

>>

94

„ „ Coat of Arms

»>

100

„ „ Gateway and Tower

j>

119

John Williams

>j

142

Rowland Williams ... ..:

>>

166

Neuadd Fawr Burying Ground

>»

180

"Dafydd y Gof"

»>

186

Peterwell Ruins

>>

192

Walter Lloyd

>>

194

Sir Herbert Lloyd, Bart.

»>

196

„ „ „ Book Plate ...

>»

207

„ „ „ Facsimile of Letter

>>

238

Fellow Workers

a

248

In the text —

Sarn Helen

. . . Page 5

Eliezer Williams, Facsimile of Signature

• • • i

, 119

"Daniel Ddu" „ „

• • • «

, 141

John Williams „ „

• • • «

, 150

Rice Rees „ „

* * * 9

, 160

Grave of Rowland Williams ...

• • • *

, 174

Pontfaen Cross

» • • «

, 248

CONTENTS.

Memories of Lampeter and District ... Pages 1 — 6

"Iolo Morgan wo"; Bishop Burgess; Sir William de
Crespigny ; "Dafydd y Gof"; Vaughan of Dolgwm.

Social Life in the Eighteenth Century ... Pages 7 — 11

Sources of Information; Vestry Book; The Vestry;
Assessments; Overseers.

Our Grandfathers' Ways Pages 12 — 16

Vestries held in Public Houses; Road-making; Hedge-
pruning; Bridge-mending; Sexton; Crier; Vermin; Peter-
well; Militia; Evan and his Mare.

Care of its Poor Pages 17—21

Badges ; Proper Settlement ; Apprentices ; Tramps ;
Parish Idiots; Doctors; Corpse- washing.

Merrybegots Pages 22 — 25

Illegitimacy; Parish Children.

The Court Leet „ 26—49

Presentment Books; Sacramental Certificate; Oaths;
Courts, where held; Order of Procedure; Common Lands;
Waterways ; Mux and Milling ; Streets ; Whipping Post
and Stocks; Pitching Pence; Fines; 'Burgess- making; Last
Court; Reformed Corporation.

Quarter Sessions Pages 50 — 55

Where held; Town Hall; Bridge; Highways; Romanists;
Punishments; Passes; Registration of Meeting-houses;
Cribyn ; Historical Records.

VI

The Parish Church Pages 56 — 62

Early References; Buildings; Font; Private Pews;
Registers; Street on Sunday.

Some of its Vicars Pages 63 — 72

Rice Powell; Erasmus Evans; Erasmus Lewes; John
Phillipps; Thomas Davies; John Lewes Phillipps; William
Williams ; John Williams ; Llewelyn Lewellin ; Daniel
Jones; John Lloyd, Bishop Suffragan of Swansea.

Nonconformity Pages 73 — 88

Caeronen and Cellan ; Cilgwyn Church Book ; Extracts ;
David Edwardes ; Jenkin Jones ; David Jenkins ; Philip
Pugh; James Davies; Evan Davies; Timothy Davies;
Cilgwyn ; Coedgleision ; Licences ; Lampeter ; Calvinistic
Methodists; Wesleyan Methodists; Independents; Uni-
tarians; Baptists.

Earliest College Days Pages 89—101

Rice Rees's Letters ; Consecration of Chapel ; Library ;
Finance; Seal.

Garrick's Friend Pages 102 — 105

Albany Wallis (1714—1800).

"Madoc" Williams „ 106—109

John Williams, LL.D. (1727—1798).

E, O LANBEDR „ 110 — 119

Eliezer Williams, M.A. (1754—1820).

Walsall's Benefactor „ 120 — 123

Thomas Bowen (1766—1852).

"A Faithful Minister in the Lord" ... „ 124 — 128

John Jeremy (1782—1860).

"Daniel Ddu" 129—141

»

Daniel Evans, B.D. (1792—1846).

Vll

"A Heaven-born Teacher" Pages 142 — 150

John Williams, M.A. (1792—1858).

Rice Rees, of the "Welsh Saints" ... „ 151 — 160

Rice Rees, M.A. (1804—1839).

The Brave Vice-Principal ... „ 161 — 165

Edward Harold Browne, D.D. (1811—1891).

The Reverent Truth-seeker „ 166 — 174

>»

Rowland Williams, D.D. (1817—1870).

Briefer Biographies. By Ben Morus ... „ 175 — 191

David Jones {circa 1662).

Timothy Davies (1753—1813).

David Saunders (1769—1840).

Arthur Williams (1771—1844).

David Williams, Dewi Farfog (1777—1861).

Thomas Hugh Jones (1778—1847).

Timothy Davies (1786—1849).

David Williams, Iwan (1795—1823).

John Davies (1797—1865).

John Jones (1797—1867).

Thomas Jeremy Griffiths, Tan Gimel (1797 — 1871).

William Saunders (1806—1851).

Reuben Davies, Reuben Brydydd y Coed (1808—1833).

Timothy Davies (1815—1869).

Edward Williams, Iolo Bach Glan Teifi (1818—1891).

David Davies, Dafydd y Oof (1822-1891).

Daniel Lewis Moses (1822—1893).

David Evans (1825—1858).

William Jenkins, Owilym Gioenog (1825 — 1878).

David Milton Davies (1827—1869).

William Edmunds (1827—1875).

The House of Peterwell Pages 192 — 239

Its Rise; Its Power; Ils Fall.

Lampeter Annals „ 240 — 243

Centuries XIL— XVIL

Vlll

Notes

Pages 244—248

Richard Hart Da vies; Eliezbr Williams; "Daniel Ddu";
Davis, Castell Hywel; "Gwinllan y Bardd;" D. Silvan
Evans; Neuadd Fawr Burial Ground; Parish Communion
Plate; Parish Registers; Lampeter History; Pontfaen
Cross.

Index

Pages 249—257

LUGGAGE IN ADVANCE.

Four flights of clean, wooden stairs lead to one of the rooms
wherein an old firm of solicitors do their honourable calling. A
table, chairs, and shelves round ihe walls comprise its furniture.
Divers documents are on these open shelves; amongst them the
unique and priceless manuscript Order Books of the Cardiganshire
Quarter Sessions — the intact series going back to the year 1788.
"Petrol," "Paraffin" — such are the signs on a shop on the ground
floor. The pyre is ready, let but a light be accidentally applied:
what then will be the fate of these county possessions ?

An old-time inn, where travellers hare come and gone for nigh
two centuries, yet keeps open door in a county town. A cupboard
is in one of the rooms. Known fortunately but to few, there
lived in it, from days long past until recently, the records of the
manoi: Volumes of manuscript presentments of the Court Leet,
signatures of baronet, knight, and squire, of portreeves, stewards,
and jurymen adorn the pages. A careful lord of that manor

has now these records safe in an iron box, under his immediate
eye; and the hostelry no longer contains a muniment room.

A steel door, locked and barred, gives access to a fire-proof
chamber in the bowels of the earth, beneath a college by the sea.

Here are kept the "Gwallter Mechain" MSS., and other collec-

*
tions of a similar nature — waiting in safety the coming of that

day when they shall be transferred to the custody of the Welsh

National Library at Aberystwyth.

In yet another strong room of a college, over which rooks do
call, and plashing fountain with shady walks guard its creeper-hung
cloisters, are royal charter and heraldic scroll.

A new vicar comes to t a parish ; his ecclesiastical knowledge tells
him that such minute books as may exist, of vestries long held and
forgotten, should be in his keeping: he promptly collects them,
and to-day antiquaries and historians thank him for doing his
duty in this matter, knowing that the "parish chest" once again
holds jsuch in its iron grip.

A book auction is being held in a small town; the floor is
strewn with litter ready to be swept up for burning. The eagle
eye of an observant book-lover espies amongst it a tiny cover-soiled
almanac. He pays the price asked for it — one penny — and so

XI

saves from destruction four years of the manuscript diary of a
college dignitary,

A time-stained, vellum-jacketed pocket book, after many adven-
tures, is now in safe keeping : within its flap are the closely-written
pages and registers of an eighteenth-century minister of the Gospel.

All these storehouses have yielded of their treasures to the
writer, who has gleaned from them most of the original matter
which has gone to the making of this book. He simply found (lie
material — dry perchance at first sight : little credit then to him
for causing it to live in parish history.

Lampeter in 1905 is a different town to what it was in 1810,
wlien the following singular contest is recorded in print as having

m

occurred within its borders: —

Two female pauper*, the one 86, the other 88 years of age, who
had lived in habits of intimacy, differed about the loss of some
yarn, which the younger charged the elder with stealing from
her. From words the two matrons proceeded to blows, but the
pugilistic encounter terminated without either being vanquished.
They then agreed to try their skill and strength with cudgels, on
Monday the 12th March, and the bellman proclaimed the combat
through the town. After nearly an hour's hard fighting, the
younger heroine seemed to have the advantage ; and if the civil
powers had not opportunely interfered, would most certainly have
killed her antagonist, who, nevertheless, exultingly declared herself
one of the lt Cochied Pencarreg," a name given to a peculiarly
obstinate race of fighters, who never call for quarter.

Xll

To all who have helped him, and they are many — bishop and
pinter, college principals and aged cottage folks by their peat fires,
lord of the manor and mayor of the borough, road-side workers
and one quaintly attired and ofttimes flower-decked woman walking
thereon — his gratitude is due, he is happy in thus being partners
with them in the production of this book.

Then loudly cried the bold Sir Bedivere:
Ah! my Lord Arthur, . . . every chance brought out
a noble knight.

And slowly answered Arthur from the barge :
. . . that which I have done,
May He within himself make pure.

G. E. E.

Tan-y-bryn, Aberystwyth,

Holy Cross Day, 1905.

Found in the "Regexta," after text was printed: for p. 240-

1309.

4 Pope Clement V., 10 Kal. June, Avignon.

To Master Hugh, son of Grimbald Paincefot, Knight, rector
of Lampedir. He, when under age, held that church, and Lan-
caddok, in the dioc. of St. David's, value £22, without papal
dispensation. Dispensation, at the request of the Earl of Pem-
broke, to retain the same.

SUBSCRIBERS.

Marked * members of the Cambrian Archaeological Association.

The Welsh National Library, Aberystwyth.
*St. David's College Library, Lampeter.

Adams, Samuel Gwbert
* Allen, Herbert J.
Amherst, The Countess
*Anwyl, Edward, M.A. (Oxon.)

[Professor of Welsh, U.C.W.]

Ashwell, Henry, J. P.
Bache, Rev. Kentish
Bankes-Price, Hugh

Cardigan

Leamington Spa

Sevenoaks, Kent

Aberystwyth

Nottingham

Walford Vicarage, Boss

4, Lansdowne Place, Coventry

Caermarthen

♦Barker, Thomas William

[Registrar of the Diocese of St. David's.]

*Bebb, Rev. Llewellyn John Montfort, M.A. (Oxon.)

Lampeter

[Principal, St David's College, Lampeter.]

Bennetts, Charles Barrett Oorgaum, India

Blazeby, Rev. William, B.A. (Lond.) Sheffield

*Bowen, Rev. David, B.A. (Lampeter) Monkton Priory

[Canon of St David's Cathedral.]

XIV

Caddick, Edward Edgbaston, Birmingham

♦Camber- Williams, Rev. Robert, M.A. (Oxon.) Caermarthen

[Canon Residentiary, and Diocesan Missioner of St. David's. ]

Carpenter, Rev. J. Estlin, M.A. (Lond.), M.A. (Oxon.) Oxford

[Case Lecturer, Manchester College.]

Commin, James George Exeter

Davies, Mrs. TrebannaUy Cellan

Davies, Rev. Daniel Harries, B.A. (Lampeter)

Vicar of Mount and Verwick, co. Cardigan

Davies, David, B.A. (Cantab.), F.R.G.S.

Plus Dinam, co. Montgomery

Davies, David Brighton

Davies, David Caxton Llansawel

Davies, David Charles Chicago, U.S.A.

[Recorder, Field Columbian Museum.]

Davies, David Jones Lampeter

Davies, Rev. David Stedman, M.A. (Cantab.)

North Witham Rectory, Lines.

Davies, Edwin Brecon

Davies, Rev. John, B.A. (Lampeter), Isfryn

Llanarmon Rectory, co. Caernarvon

Davies, John, Giraldus Lampeter

Davies, John Glyn Aberystwyth

[Welsh Librarian, U.C.W.] -

Davies, Joseph Lampeter

[Mayor of Lampeter, 1903-5.]

Davies, Rev. Joshua, B.A. (Lampeter) Vicar of Llanllwni

Davies, Samuel Cilf alien, Newcastle Emlyn

Davies, Saunders Felinfach, Lampeter

Davies, Thomas Compton House, Aberayron

Davies, Thomas Blaenplwyf-uclwf

XV

Davies, William Lampeter

[Bursary Clerk, St. David's College.]

Davies, Rev. William Rawdon Rectory, P.Q., Canada

*Davies-Evans, Herbert Highmead

[Lord Lieutenant of Cardiganshire.]

*Edmondes, The Ven. Frederic William, M.A.

[Archdeacon of Llandaff.] Nolton Court > Bridgend

Edmunds, Rev. Thomas Charles, B.A. (Lampeter)

Trefilan Rectory, co. Cardigan

Edwardes, Rev. David, M.A. (Cantab.), J.P. Lhngeitho

Edwards, Owen Morgan, M.A. (Oxon.) " Oxford

[Lecturer on Modern History, Lincoln College.]

Edwards, John M. Dolwen, Lampeter

Ellis, Thomas Glascoed, Aberystwyth

Embry, John Falcondale

[Farm-bailiff.]

Emrys-Jones, Abraham, M.D., M.S. (Edin.), J.P. Manchester
Evans, Abel, M.R.C.S., L.M. (Eng.), L.S.A. Lampeter

Evans, Rev. David Llanvmen

[Unitarian min. of Cribyn and Capel-y-Groes.]

*Evans, Rev. David Davies, B.D. (Lampeter)

Llangunnor Vicarage, co. Caermarthen

Evans, David Rees Bridge Street, Lampeter

Evans, Rev. Evan, B.A. (Lampeter) Aberayron Vicarage

[Rural Dean of Glyn Aeron.]

*Evans, Major Edward Walter David, J.P.

Camnant Hall, co. Cardigan

Evans, John 318, Commercial Road, London, E.

Evans, J. Gwenogfryn, M.A., D.Litt. (Oxon.), D.Litt. (Wales,

honoris causa) Llanbedrog

Evans, Rev. John Nathan, B.A. (Lampeter)

Llangybi Vicarage, Deny Ormond

XVI

Evans, J. Walter Aberystwyth

Evans, Roderick Lampeter

Evans, Timothy Lampeter

Evans, Thomas John Canonbury Park, South, London

Evans, Captain Titus Ty Rhds, Fishguard

Evans, Walter Jenkin, M.A. (Oxon.), J.P. Caermarthen

[Principal, Presbyterian College. ]

Evans, Rev. William John, B.A. (Lampetw)

Rector of Llanfair Orllwyn

*Fisher, Rev. John, B.D. (Lampeter) Cefn Rectory, St. Asaph
Fitzwilliams, Charles Home Lloyd, D.L., J.P. Cilgwyn
♦Footman, Rev. William Llewelyn, M.A. (Oxon.) Lampeter

[Head Master, St. David's College School.]

Fryer, Henry Charles, B.A. (Oxon.), D.L., J.P. Aberystwyth

Galloway, Sydney V. New Street, Aberystwyth

*Glascodine, Charles Henry Abingdon Gardens, Kensington, W.
*Green, Francis Trewern, North Finchley

Griffiths, Evan Henry, L.R.C.P. (Edin.), L.R.C.S. Lampeter
Guppy, John Jones Ivy Place, Swansea

Gwynne, Mrs. (of Monachty) Clifton

Harford, Mrs., and *Miss Harford Blaise Castle, Henbvry
Harford, Frederick Dundas, J.P. Do.

Harford, John Charles, D.L., J.P. Falcondale

[Lord of the Manor.]

Heape, Richard Hall Bank, Rochdale

Herbert, The Hon. Mrs. Llanover

Herbert, Rev. David William, B.A. (Oxon.) Tremain Vicarage

Hills-Johnes, Sir James, V.C., G.C.B., and Lady E. Hills-

Johnes Dolaucothy, co. Caermarthen

XV11

Holman, David Emory, M.A., M.D. (Brown University, R.L)

Attleboro, U.S.A.

Holman, H. Wilson 4, Lloyd's Avenue, London, B.C.

Howells, William Dean, D.Litt. (Oxon., honoris causa)

New York, U.S.A.

Hughes, Mrs., M.F.H. Neuadd Fawr, Lampeter

♦Hughes, Harold, F.R.I.B.A. Aelwyd, Bangor, N Wales

*J3ughes, Joshua Bhosygadair, Blaenanerch

Hughes, John Evan, M.B., CM., J.P. Cwrtycadnaw, Llanilar

Hughes, Major John George Parry, D.L., J.P.

Alltlwyd, Llanrhystyd

♦Hughes, . Colonel William Gwynne, D.L., J.P.

Glancothi, co. Caermarthen

Inglis-Jones, Wilmot, D.L., J.P. Berry Ormond

James, Rev. William, B.A. (Lond.), J.P. Llandyssul

Jayne, The Right Rev. Francis John, D.D. The Palace, Chester

[Lord Bishop of Chester.]

Jenkins, Miss Anne Trecefel, Tregaron

Jenkins, Evan Faversham

Jenkins, John Austin, B.A. (Lond.) Cardiff

[Registrar, U.C. South Wales and Monmouthshire.]

Jeremy, Alfred Hutton, M.B., Bac. Surg. (Edin.) Royal Navy

[H.M.S. Satellite.]

Joinson, Arthur Pontfaen, nr. Lampeter

Jones, Albert Rice Thomas, J.P. Lampeter

Jones, Arthur Blayney Chicago, U.S.A.

Jones, Rev. Daniel, M.A. (Oxon.) Warren Vicarage

[Chancellor of St. David's Cathedral.]

Jones, David Bryn Road, Lampeter

* Jones, Rev. David, M.A. (Oxon.) Gorsedd Vicarage, Holywell
Jones, David Ivon 17, Bridge St., Aberystwyth

XV111

Jones, David James Broniestyn, Aberdare

* Jones, E. Alfred Hampden House, Phoenix St., N.W.

♦Jones, Edmund James, C.E. Fforest Legumis, Glam.

Jones, Rev. Evan Ceredig, M.A. (Glas.) Bradford, Yorks

Jones, Evan Lewis 77, North Parade, Aberystwyth

Jones, James Caradog Llanarth, co. Cardigan

♦Jones, John David * Caermarthen

[H.M. Postmaster.]

Jones, Captain John, 34628 Bryn Twy, St. DogmaeVs

Jones, Lewis Lampeter

♦Jones, Rev. Morgan Hugh, B.A. {Wales) Caermarthen

[Secretary, Caermarthenshire Antiquarian Society.] •

Jones, Thomas, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., L.S.A. (Lond.) Aberkenfig
Jones, Rev. Thomas Noah Vicar of Eglwys Newydd, co. Cardigan
Jones, Thomas William Lampeter

Jones, William Troedybryn, Aberystwyth

Jones, William .T. 17, Stratum St., London, W.

•

Levi, T. Arthur, M.A. (Oxon.), B.C.L. Aberystwyth

[Professor of English Law, U.C. W.]

Lewes, Miss Maesgwilym, Cellan

♦Lewes, Miss Evelyn Ty-glyn Aeron, co. Cardigan

Lewis, Daniel Lloyd Talfan, Lampeter

Lewis, Garnet Cardigan

Lewis, John David Gomerian Press, Llandyssul
Lewis, Rev. Joseph Pollard, B.A. (Lampeter) Carew Vicarage

Lewis, William Lampeter

[Head Master, Bryn Road Boys' School.]

♦Llewellyn, Robert William, J.P. Baglan Hall, co. Glamorgan

♦Lloyd, Charles, M.A. (Oxon.), D.L., J.P.

Waunifor, co. Cardigan

XIX

Lloyd, David Francis Lampeter

Lloyd, Herbert Tyllwyd, Hayward's Heath

Lloyd, Rev. Herbert, M.A. (Oxon.) Peter sfield, Rants

*Lloyd, H. Meuric, M.A. (Oxon.) Delfryn, co. Caermarthen

*Lloyd, The Right Rev. John, D.D. Lampeter Vicarage

[Bishop Suffragan of Swansea.]

*Lloyd, John Edward, M.Ai (Oxon.) » Bangor

[Professor of History, U.C. North Wales.]

Lloyd, John Ernest Lampeter

[Town Clerk.]

Lloyd, Rev. John Francis, B.A. (Lampeter) Lhnilar Vicarage

Lloyd, Rev. Prebendary Joseph, B.D. (Lampeter)

Llanpumpsaint Vicarage, co. Caermarthen

Lloyd, J. Spencer Emporium, Treorchy

Lloyd, Sir Marteine Owen Mowbray, Bart. Bronwydd

Lloyd, Rev. Thomas Moelifor, Talgarreg

[Curate of Llanarth. ]

Lloyd, Colonel Thomas, C.B., J.P. Aberayron

Lloyd-Owen, David Charles, M.D., J.P. Birmingham

Lloyd-Price, Mrs. Bryn Cothi, co. Caermarthen,

Lloyd- Williams, John Jordan, M.A. (Oxon.)

The Schools, Oswestry

Matthews, A. Weight Clerkenwell, B.C.

McClure, John David, LL.D., M.A. (Cantab.), B.Mus. (Land.)

[Head Master, Mill Hill School, London, W.]

Megicks, James Thomas Lampeter

Midland Educational Co., Ld. Birmingham

Morgan, Rev. John Edeyrn Rectory, Pwllheli

Morgan, John Lloyd, M.P. Temple, E.C.

*Morgan, Lieut-Colonel William Llew n -, C.E. Swansea

XX

Morus, Ben Lampeter

♦Nicholas, Rev. William Llewhelyn, M.A. (Oxon.)

Vicarage, Flint

♦Nicholl, John Illtyd Dillwyn, J.P. Merthyr Mawr

Nicholson, Francis, F.Z.S. Manchester

*Owen, Edward India Office, S. W.

♦Owen, Henry, D.C.L. (Oxon.); F.S.A., J.P. Poyston

Owen, The Right Rev. John, D.D. The Palace, Abergwili

[Lord Bishop of St. David's.]

Owen, Rev. John Caleb Ystrad Vicarage, Felinfach

Palmer, William Henry, J.P. Aberystwyth

Parsons, Frederick Milo Small Heath, Birmingham

♦Poole-Hughes, Rev. John Prytherch, M.A. (Oxon.)

Mold Vicarage, co. Flint

Powell, William Beauclerc, D.L., J.P., and Mrs. Powell

Nanteos

Price, Arthur Lampeter

♦Pritchard, Mrs., Olwen Powys The Priory, Cardigan

Puddicombe, Mrs., A lien Maine Traethsaith, co. Cardigan

Pugh, John Williamson, M.D. (Lond.), M.R.C.S. (Eng.), L.S.A.

Brighton

Quaritch, Bernard 15, Piccadilly, London, W.

Rendel, The Right Hon. Lord Hatchlands, Guildford

[President of U.C.W.]

Richards, David Morgan, M.J.I. Aberdare

♦Roberts, Lewis Jones, H.M.I.S. Tegfan, Rhyl

♦Roberts, Thomas Francis, M.A. (Oxon.), LL.D. (Vict., honoris

causa) Aberystwyth

[Principal, University College of Wales.]

♦Rogers, John Edwardes, J.P. Abermeuiig

Rogers, W. H. Hamilton, F.S.A. Colyton, Devon

XXI

Rollason, Arthur Adolphus Dixon's Green, Dudley -

Ryle, The Right Rev. Herbert Edward, D.D. Farnham Castle

[Lord Bishop of Winchester.]

♦Samuel, David, M.A. (Cantab.) Aberystwyth

[Head Master, County School.]

Silvan-Evans, John Henry, M.A. (Oxon.)

Ty-Ghvyn-ar-baf, Whitland

Spalding, John T. Nottingham

♦Spurrell, Walter, J.P. Carmarthen

Stedman-Thomas, William Gwynne Caermarthen

♦Stepney-Gulston, Alan, J.P. Derwydd, co. Caermarihen

Stewart, Captain James, D.L., J.P. Alltyrodyn, co. Cardigan

Swann', John Hibbert * Manchester

[Senior Assistant, Free Reference Library.]

Tateham, Edmund, and Mrs. Tateham Aberystwyth

Theakstone, Miss D. Nest Glanym&r, Waterloo

♦Thomas, The Ven. David Richard, M.A. (Oxon.), F.S.A.

IAandrinio Rectory

[Archdeacon of Montgomery ; President, Cambrian Archaeological
Association.]

♦Thomas, Daniel Lleufer, M.A. (Oxon.) Swansea

Thomas, David, Dewi Hefin Cnbyn

Thomas, David, H.M.I.S. Aberystwyth

Thomas, Rev. John Jeremy Cascob Rectory, co. Radnor

Thomas, William E. 18, Promenade, Swansea

♦Tredegar, The Right Hon. Lord Tredegar Park, co. Monmouth

♦Treherne, G. G. T. London

[President, Caermarthenshire Antiquarian Society.]

♦Turbervill, Colonel John Picton Ewenny Priory

Tudor, The Hon. Daniel Jeremy Grenada, B.W.I.

[Attorney General.]

XXII

Vaughan, Captain Herbert, J.P. Worcester

♦Vaughan, Herbert Millingchamp, J.P. Llangoedmxrre

Wade, Kev. George Woosung, D.D. Lampeter

[Senior Tutor, St. David's College.]

Walford Bros. New Oxford St., London, W.C.

Walters, Mrs. S. A. Bryn Square, Lampeter

♦Watkin, Thomas Morgan Joseph, B.A. (Cantab.), F.S.A.

m _x iv -n • j. i H.M. College of Arms, London, B.C.

[Portcullis Pursuivant.] 9 J 7

Welsh Church Press, Ld. Lampeter

♦Williams, The Ven. David, M.A. (Oxon.) Aberystwyth

[Archdeacon of Cardigan.]

Williams, D. Pryse, Brythonydd Y Wenallt, Brongesi

Williams, Evan * Ystrad Caron, Tregaron

Williams, Sir John, Bart. Llanstephan, co. Caermarthen

Williams, Miss Mallt Aberclydach, Talybont-ar-Wysg
Williams, Sir Thomas Marchant, Kt., B.A. (Lond.) Cardiff

Williams, Mrs. Rowland Woodend Park, Grassendale

Williams, W. Hefin Lampeter

Williams, David Thomas Harford Square, Lampeter

Williams, Edward Aberystwyth

[Chief Constable of Cardiganshire.]

♦Willis-Bund, John William, M.A. (Cantab.), LL.B., F.S.A.,

J.P. Wick Episcopi, Worcester

Zandt, Alexander de London

[Cataloguer of St. David's College Library, Lampeter. ]

LIBRARIES.
Aberystwyth Public Library

[Miss Jenkins, Librarian.]

Bangor Welsh Library, University College of North Wales

[Rev. T. Shankland, Librarian.]

xxm
Birmingham The Birmingham Library

[Charles Edward Scarse, Librarian.]

Birmingham *Free Library

[A. Oapel Shaw, Librarian ; per Messrs. Cornish Brothers, Ld.]

Boston, U.S.A. Public Library

[Horace Greeley Wadlin, City Librarian.]

Cambridge University Library

[Francis John Henry Jenkinson, M.A. {Cantab.), Hon. Litt.D.
{Oxon.), Librarian; Henry Sidney Aldis, Secretary.]

Cardiff . *Public Library

[John Ballinger, librarian.]

Leeds Public Free Library

[Thomas William Hand, F.R.H.S., City Librarian.]

London British Museum

[Per Dulau & Co.]

London London Library

[Charles Theodore Hagberg Wright, LL.D., Librarian.]

London *Guildhall Library

[Charles Welch, F.S.A., Librarian.]

London The Honourable Society of Cymmrodoiion

[*E. Vincent Evans, Secretary.]

London The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn

[Sir Edward Clarke, K.C., Master of Library; A. F. Grey
Etheridge, Librarian.]

Manchester *Chetham , s Library

[Sir Henry Hoyle Howorth, K.C.I.E., F.R.S., F.S.A., Hon.
Librarian; W. T. Browne, Librarian.]

Manchester ^Reference Library

[Charles W. Sutton, M.A. {Vict.), librarian.]

Manchester The John Rylands Library

[Henry Guppy, M.A. {Vict.), librarian.]

New York City, U.S.A. Historical Society

[Robert H. Kelbey, Librarian.]

New York City, U.S.A. *Public Library

[John Shaw Billings, M.D., LL.D. {Edin.), D.C.L. {Oxon.),
Librarian ; per Messrs. B. F. Stevens & Brown.]

XXIV

New York City, U.S.A. Syracuse, Public Libiary

[Rev. Ezekiel W. Mundy, M.A., Litt.D.]

Oxford Bodleian Library

[Edward Williams Byron Nicholson, M.A. (Oxon.), Bodley's
librarian.]

Philadelphia, U.S.A. *The Historical Society of Pennsylvania

[John Woolf Jordan, LL.D. (Lafayette Coll.), Librarian; per
Messrs. B. F. Stevens & Brown.]

Plymouth Public Library

[W. H. K. Wright, F.R.H.S., Librarian.]

St. David's ' *CatIiedral Library

[The Very Rev. James Allan Smith, D.D., Dean.]

Swansea ^Public Library

[D. Rhys Phillips, Welsh Librarian. ]

Swansea * Royal Institution of South Wales

[D. Lleufer Thomas, M.A., Hon. Librarian.]

LAMPETER.

Remarks af Lampeter anb psttkt

On All Souls' Day, 1902, there was buried in the
Alltblaca Chapel grounds the body of the Rev. David
Lewis Evans, who, from a child to the, last of his 90
years of life in this world, had been a constant, wor-
shipper there. On Sunday afternoon, the 4th of Novem-
ber, 1900, he had preached to a numerous congregation
within its walls, taking for a text Acts iii. 19, "Repent
ye therefore, and be converted." At the close of his
sermon, and before giving the Apostolic Benediction,
he requested the worshippers to sing one of Iolo Mor-
ganwg's hymns, and told them he was probably the last
person living who had seen and known old Iolo — having,
as a child, seen him when a frequent visitor to his
parents' house in the neighbourhood. Once he remem-
bered being with his mother in the old Chapel at an
administration of the Lord's Supper. Amongst the
communicants was one, leaning on his tall staff, who
received the elements standing, making reverent obei-
sance to them ere participating. " See, lad," whispered
his mother as they were leaving the Chapel, "there is
the great and good Iolo"

As "the Professor" — for so was he known and

addressed by old and voung, from his long having
l

filled the Hebrew chair at the Presbyterian College,
Caermarthen — walked to his home at Rheol Cottage
after the service, he was in a reminiscent mood, and
told his son* many things of former days, amongst
them much about Lampeter as he first knew it. These
and other local bits are as follows : —

My father, Esau EvansJ of Llanybyther, quarried
all the stones for the building of Lampeter College, from
a quarry on Frowen, where he had four or fioe men
steadily working for some years. The stones were taken
in carts to the College site. I often earned my father
his dinner : on one occasion I remember a minister, as
I thought, talking to father, who made me doff my cap
at once. He held converse some time with my father,
and when he left he shook hands with him, and put his
hand on my head, and was cheered by the quarrymen.
This was Bishop Burgess. Between him and father
there was real and mutual good feeling. Frequently the
Bishop and father (who was an Unitarian of Priestley } s
views) would have long chats, beginning with stone and
ending with theology, for, said the Bishop to him on one
occasion, " You are no bigot."

Bishop Burgess used to preach in a wig. Once I
remember him, on a hot day, removing it and hanging
it on the pulpit candle-stand. \

* At the close of the day, whenever my father had spoken of old times and
persons, I invariably wrote down the substance, largely in his own words, of
what he had said, always, however, taking care that he knew not of my so
doing. It was on such occasions as this particular one that I heard him
speak of Davis, Castell Hywel, of Rice Rees, of Daniel Ddu, of Tegid, of
Kilsby Jones, his old class mate, and of many others.— G.B.B.

t Died 1868, set. 82 ; buried at Alltblaca. I can just remember him.—
G.E.E.

X This, said father on another occasion, was in St. Peter's Church, Caer-
marthen. — G. E. E.

Esau Evans.

THE NEW YORK

PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOH, LENOX AND
TILDEN FOUNDATIONS.

Once, when I was a student at Caermarthen, he
passed through our College class-room, in company with
the Principal. I remember he spoke a few words in
Latin to us.

At that time father was quarrying stones from
the same place for the building of Rhos-y-dyon Tower,
the seat of Sir William de Crespigny and his Lady. I
remember them well.

I knew their daughters (?) too; they brought me
several books as presents, when I was in school at
Llanybyther. Once, on going home from school, at
Rhydybont, the waters were out, and there I saw one
of t/iese ladies and her maid. ..They were unable to
cross the little stream. I said I would take off my
clogs and carry them over on my back. This -offer- they
accepted. First I carried over the young lady, who was
not very weighty ; next I took over the maid, she .was
heavy. The young lady always rernembei'ed this help.

I can call to mind Lady Sarah de Crespigny ; site
died at the Tower, and was buried in a vault under
Pencxirreg Church. I went into that vault on the
funeral day; it was lighted up with candles. \\ A
hearse was used to bring the body to Church ; this was
then an uncommon sight in these parts, and all the
district turned out to see it. In Blaendernyn Tower, as
the place was originally called, the Rev. John Davies,
minister of Alltblaca and Llwynrhydowen, kept his
school. I was usher at it.%

II Hence the ingle-nook story of the country side that Lady Sarah wan
"buried by candle-light." She died the 22nd Sept., 1825; was daughter of
Other Lewis Windsor, Earl of Plymouth, and " descended from the Princes
of South and North Wales." Cf. Tablet in Pencarreg Church.— G.E.E.

| The Rev. D. Bankes Price was one of my father's Latin scholars there.
This Mr. Price told mo in 1905.— G.E.E.

/ have yet the very crow-bar, polished with use, with
which father worked to help quarry the stones. The
Bishop always liked to know the bills were paid.

Lampeter is now quite another place to when the
Bishop was building his College. The students were not
always very orderly ; they got better. Some few of the
early men there were not very sober at times — those days
have gone. Ministers of all churches have changed
their manners, and don't go much now to the inns. I
first saw Lampeter in 1820 ; the College site was then a
field. Bishop Burgess liad i\o love, of course, for Uni-
taiians, but he held the Presbyterian College in respect,
and said he hoped his College would send out as good
scholars.*

There is a copy of ths scholarly " Anti-Trinitarian
Biography," by my old friend, Wallace, of Manchester
College, in the library at Lampeter. They hate good
tracts there. Somewhere about 18Jfi I used that library;
it was then very poorly arranged, but had books I sought.
They have since had gifts.

* In the eighteenth century a large number of the clergy of the Church
of England were educated at the College. One of them, the Rev. John
Jones, vicar of Shephill, co. Hertford, placed in the hands of the Bishop of
St. David's two silver cups, to be presented by him to the tutor or tutors
of the Academy, as it was then called, to descend from them to their suc-
cessors in office. In 1783, Bishop Smallwell handed the cups to the principal
tutor, with this inscription cut upon them :— The Gift of tore. Mr. Jones, Far
The use of The Tutor of The Academy, Carmarthen. The one now held by
Principal Walter J. Evans, M.A., bears the London assay letter of 1734. The
other, which was formerly held by my father, is now in the custody of his
old student and successor, the Rev. Professor Jones, M.A., minister of
Lammas Street Chapel. Vicar Jones also bequeathed £30 to the Society for
Promoting Christian Knowledge, with directions that they were to pay,
while it should last, 40s. yearly to the Bishop of St. David's for the time
being, to be bestowed by his Lordship, at his discretion, as premiums and
encouragements on such of the students of the said Academy applying to
him for Holy Orders in the Church of England as should pass the best and
second best examination for the same ; and be thereupon ordained, having
first exhibited to his Lordship a certificate from the tutor or tutors of the
said Academy, testifying the good qualities and behaviour of those can-
didates.— G. E. E.

When I was a boy at school I had a mate in a little
girl, who afterwards became the wife of Saunders, and
the mother of "Miss Saunders fach," as they call that
lady. The mother was aired for by an uncle Joshua, a
man of means, and a life-long member of Alltblaca
Chapel.

A few years ago, "Dafydd y Gof" a boin antiquary,
who knew the history of Pencarreg, came with me, and
with spades we dug down about a foot or so in a field off
the road from Lampeter to Llanybyther, on the Caer-
marthen side, where Dafydd knew we should find Sam
Helen; for he had seen it clearly marked out when
harvest was ripe in that field. There was a band of
inferior grain, as if on drier soil. First we came to
a bed of fine gravel, and then under it was the paved
road, the stones all placed so : —

immiiL'

We removed two of the stones, examined them, put them
back, and carefully filled up the hole. Dafydd could
read hish.%

Old Vaughan of Dolgwm died the year before I was
born.\\ He was a rollicking squire, who seldom went
sober to bed, and was often earned up the broad stairs
at Dolgwm. He had a favourite servant named Lettice.

t Father drew this on the road with his stick.— O.E.E.

J Dafydd's Irish Testament— "Tiomna Nuadh ar Dtighearna agus ar
Slanuigheora Iosa Criosd, 1824,"— is in my library. It carries his book
label, "David Davies, Btark-sinith, Pencarreg, Owner of this Book." Dafydd
«mce rowed me in his coracle on Pencarreg Lake.— G.E.E.

II John Vaughan, d. 10 January, 1812, sat. 79.

Her master left her two Chippendale chairs, § which my
mother bought when things were sold after her death,
about 1834.

I have seen men fast in Lampeter stocks.

g A baptismal entry in the Pencarreg Register, on the 3rd February, 1804,
throws light on one of the reasons for " Old Vaughan's " bequest to " Lett ice
hi* maid"— G.E.E.

Atonal fftfe in the (Eighteenth Centurg.

That the time has come for a concise, accurate history of this
town and parish is a fact which holds favour with local archae-
ologists : when such is being worked up, it is hoped that these
chapters may be of some help to the compiler. The subject
here dealt with is mainly social : simple incidents in the daily
life of our Lampeter forefathers, in the eighteenth century ;
incidents the accounts of which are rendered of the greatest
value to us, because of their being recorded at the times of their
occurrence, when the events were fresh in the minds of the
successive scribes.

In writing the history of the parish, and in bringing to our
notice these records of the past, I aim at clothing them with a
present-day and interesting garb, so that we may possibly catch
somewhat of the life and the sentiment of the people who then
were walking the cobbled pavements of the town. There is
much truth in what John Richard Green once said, that "the
mill by the stream, the tolls in the market place, the brasses of
its burghers in the church, the names of its streets, the lingering
memory of its guilds, the mace of its mayors, tell us more of the
past of England than the spire of Sarum and the martyrdom
of Canterbury." If ever I have cause to be grateful to any
historian, it is to Green, who taught me that it is no extra-
ordinary virtue, but a simple duty on my part, to visit and to
study all the accessible places about which I essay to write.

What are the generally accepted sources of information about
Lampeter ? The account of the town and parish which Vicar
Eliezer Williams contributed to Carlisle's "Topographical Dic-
tionary of Wales," about the year 1808; the fourteen pages
given to the town by Meyrick, in 1808, which he bases largely
on Vicar Eliezer's work, but without so owning up to the fact ;
the Rev. Wm. Edmunds's account of "Some Old Families in
the neighbourhood of Lampeter," 1860 (forty-five pages of the
highest value, especially in matters genealogical); the Rev.
D.Lloyd Isaac's essay, "Hanes Llanbedr," printed in 1860, in
the transactions of a local eisteddfod held the year previous ;

8

Mr. K. W. Banks's " Notes on Records relating to Lampeter and
Cardiganshire," which will he found in the " Archaeologia Cam-
brensis," 1878; and Dean Davey's invaluable "Old Lampeter,"
an article contributed by him in 1889 to the St. David's
College Magazine. If to these we add a few minor contri-
butions to the Arckceologia Cambrensis ; the late Bishop Basil
Jones's valuable presidential address of 1878, when the Cambrian
Archaeological Association visited Lampeter ; and allusions, none
too accurate, in various books of "Tours," I think the list, for
working purposes, is fairly exhaustive.

True, there may be one other source of information, which I
term the "Mrs. Harris" of Lampeter, I mean the supposed
manuscript history of the town said to have been compiled by
Mr. Edmunds, of "Old Families" fame. Everyone tells me about
it, no one can say where it now is ; and if it be in Lampeter in
some dark cupboard, then all I hope is that these lines may
be the means of opening the carefully guarded doors. I think,
however, I can surmise what this mysterious document may be.
Many years ago, say forty, Mr. Edmunds obtained copies from
the Record Office of records relating to Lampeter and the neigh-
bourhood, with the idea of writing a history of the locality.
His intention was not, alas ! carried out. A summary of them,
with such notes as could be gathered by Mr. Banks, was made,
and the whole paper, as read before the Association in 1878, is
that alluded to above, and available to all.

To none, however, of the accounts I have mentioned have I
gone for my present purpose, preferring rather to draw my
water from the eve of the well itself ; and in this case mv
" llygad y ffynnon " is that priceless manuscript " Vestry Book "
owned by the parish, which contains elaborate and circum-
stantial accounts of a series of parish meetings held from 1705
to 1803. This book, with other documents, is now rightly in
the custody of the Vicar of Lampeter, the Right Rev. Bishop of
Swansea, to whose pergonal kindness I am debtor, he having
made it possible for me thoroughly to " work " it.

The " Vestry " was so called from the fact that the meeting of
parishioners was held in the vestry of the parish church ; the
primary object, of course, of such a room appendant to a church
being that where the ecclesiastical vestments were kept, and
where the officiating minister robed himself. Then the term
" vestry " got to be applied to any .room in which a parochial

meeting was held, and, as we shall see by-and-bye, in the case
of the Lampeter Vestry, the business w r as invariably adjourned
from the church premises to those of some adjacent house,
public or otherwise. The minister, churchwardens, and over-
seers of the poor, and chief men of the parish, constituted the
vestry, and the minister, or, as he was called later on, the vicar,
was, by right of office, chairman of the meeting. Formerly all
parish business — assessments for the poor, church rates, care of
paupers, idiots, and illegitimate children ; repair of the church
and of the burial ground ; militia supplies ; parish apprentices ;
making of hedges ; restoring bridges ; levelling roads ; keeping
the pound and the stocks in order — were dealt with by the
parishioners in vestry assembled. Here, too, were appointed at
Easter, as they still are, the churchwardens, who at Lampeter
were also overseers of the poor ; and powerful officials they
were in the parish life of the period under review. Practically
they did everything, and, with the parish constable, were omni-
potent in their own district. Every parishioner or out-dweller
assessed to or paying the church rate was of common right
admissible to the vestry.

In the year 1705, shortly after Queen Anne came to the
throne, we find the parish of Lampeter assessed to the poor for
the sum of £6 10s. 0d., an amount which was disbursed by the
overseers, David Griffith and Jenkin Morgan, in a delightfully
primitive, yet withal charitable method. Griffith was responsible
for £3 8s. 2d. of the sum. He brings in his account of its ex-
penditure to his fellow parishioners, and thus it is penned : —

To Rebecca David, Wid.

To Grace Tho. a poor woman

To Margt. Rhydde. a Lame woman..

To Daf. Dd. deceased since ...

To Rees Jones

To dorothy Rhydde ...

Tofl pd. by Dd. Giith ...
Remae'ng in his hands ...

Rees Jones I take to be the poor, old, blind man buried on the
18th October, 1708.

2

£

8.

d.

.

u

6

.

8

9

. 1

12

6

.

9

.

7

.

6

. 8

5 10

.

2

4

£

8.

d.

1

1

9

6

9

6

6

2

1

3

s

6

o

2

3

10

Jenkin Morgan disbursed as follows: —

To William Gibson ...

To Bessy's mother . . .

To Rees Jones

To Daf. David

To Bebeecha David . . .

To Grace Tho.

Remaen'g in his hands

Having received from ye old Overseers the sum of 10s.,
Griffith and Morgan had, with the amount of the assessment,
£6 108. 0d., a total sum of £7 for which to account to the
vestry. Their disbursements were £6 12s. 3d., they had in
hand 4s. 7d. ; what then of the remaining 3s. 2d. ? They must
answer it in their own words : —

Jenk'n Morgan averrs this money to be dm from Erasmus
Davies wo. left ye Cowntry. David Grifth. pd. Is. 2d. of ye
above meniond arrears f/r an order, and ye other Is. 2d. he pd.
Me [i.e., Jenkin Morgan], and I pd. ym to Mr. Tho. Da. of
Dole, wo. pd. ym to Samuetfor repareing Pontfan bridge.

Here then we have a copy of the first extant yearly account
of the parish of Lampeter. It is interesting in many ways to
the student of bye-gone customs — if only as showing that the
two men, entrusted by their fellows with a high office, dis-
charged that trust faithfully, and were in reality overseers of thei
poor first, and repairers of Pontfaen bridge in the second place.

In the following year the assessment yielded the advanced
sum of £7 6s. Od. ; in 1707 it sank to £5 10s. 0d., owing in
part to the fact that David Tho : Jon. Joseph David : Jenkn.
Evan: and David tho. ap Bevan refused to pay 3d. each on ym
assessed. Evidently there were local disturbances that year !
After the accounts were balanced, and the vestry ale finished,
one of the debtors paid up to the tune of 17s. Another was
conscience stricken to the extent of 5s. 6d., which sum was
promptly handed to Geo. Edwards for makeing ye stocks, and
6d. to ye smith for ye iron work belonging to it. Whether these
stocks were first occupied by the remaining recalcitrants history
sayeth not.

11

By 1715 the assessment yielded £10 15s. 10d., showing that
the rateable value was very slowly rising; and in 1728, the last
year dealt with before a long break in the accounts, we read of
how £10 0s. Od. were allowed to ye poor of ys sd. pish. The
particulars of the payments made tell us much of the social
life of these years. A quarter of pilcorn cost 2s. 6d., and was
given to Hugh David's wife. Ye blind coachman gets 2s. 6d. ;
leastways Evan Griffith says yt he pd. ym : let us hope he did.
Then £1 14s. Od. had to be payd towds. Harry's bastard child, but
only 2s. was spent for a foot-bridge upon Crayddin. If £1 4s. Od.
was spent, as it was, for drink ait sevll. times upon making ye
pish, accts., yet let it be recorded that our grandsires gave
2s. 6d. to one of Llanwinen pish, yt had loss by fire, and 5s. to
John Richds. his wife urn. she went to Ireland; whilst 2s. does
not seem exorbitant payment to the messenger yt went to ye,
seaside far Justice Berston's tax.

In 1728 the vestry is careful to add to the accounts the state-
ment that ' the overseers assured us yt ye pensioners were accordingly
pat/d' — words rendered to-day as "audited and found correct."
The small balance of this year's money was given by ye paiish-
ioners consent to ye wife of Evan ffrancis of Pencareg, wo had her
Jwy.se burnt by fire. Other payments had included 17s. 6d. to
ffrancis Jon. a blind man; 10s. to Gytto Coch; 20s. to Tace Powell;
20s. to a blind boy; and 40s. to a bastard child; whilst one
shilling was pd. more far ale as Mr. David Davis told me.

(Dut (Sranbf afters' (Haps.

Social life is touched at many different points by this Vestry
Book. We have already seen what it has to say about poor
rates, and the administration of relief in coin and in kind. Now
let us cull from the entries some which refer to widely different
matters.

Where were the vestries held during the latter half of the
eighteenth century ? I fear we must answer, "Anywhere save
in the vestry." Out of the minutes of 108 vestries, of which
extracts are before me, all save a dozen seem to have been
adjourn'd to the house of Chelton Leigh or some other parishioner.
That all the adjournments were to ale-houses, I hardly like to
affirm, but in many of the records mention is distinctly made
that they were adjourned to the "George," the "Black Lion,"
and other hostelries. At least 34 vestries were, between the
years 1777 and 1800, held at the house of Daniel Evans, the petty
constable of Lampeter ; Chelton Leigh kept the " Swan*," and
here we know that 13 vestries adjourned. The "Black Lion"
had Thomas Williams as host, and he managed to secure 15
vestries; David Jenkins, one of the churchwardens in 1792,
owned the "Three Horse Shoes," and got five vestries, though,
to his credit be it said, not one was adjourned to his house
in his year of office. Other inns were the "Nag's Head," the
"Georee," and the "Ship." Mr. Charles Edmund, "Town" as
he is designated, was warden in 1777 and 1795, and had eight
vestries in his house. Nine vestries only seem to have had no
adjournments from the parish church.

On Easter Monday, 1786, the parishioners felt that too many
vestries were being held at the inns, and so they accordingly
ordered that no more than 6 vestries are to be held in this parish in a
publick house, and no mare to be spent than 2s. 6d. each vestry. The
intention was good, but as the vestries do not average more than
five in a year, it may be doubted whether any were held else-
where than at the inns.

The parishioners in vestry assembled made regulations for the
protection of their persons and property. In 1777, they agreed

13

to have a bond properly sigrid, in order to prosecute Thieves, and to
hire every custom legally kept, as to be speciftd in ye bond. A year
later they waited upon the famous Attorney Lloyd, of Mabws,
in order to have his opinion about the settlement of some poor people,
and every other affair that may be advantageous to the parish Then,
as now, common lands were being filched, and, in 1779, we read
of their agreeing to proceed in the next Quarter Sessions, at Cardigan,
against an encroachment lately made on the road of the lower division
of the parish.

Road making, hedge pruning, and bridge mending in the
parish •naturally came within their jurisdiction. This was the
method adopted, in May, 1779, to repair properly the road from
AbercAirdinen by river Granell by Cwmjago, as far as Ystrad parish.
The road was to be divided equally, and every inhabitant was
to amend according to the survey that he pays. If every inhabitant
did not repair and make good his share of the road against (lie
last day of June next, he will be compelled to pay 2s. in the pound of
line for his neglect. In September, 1780, it was found necessary
to levy a rate of 3d. per pound upon the parish, to pay Bridge rate,
and new Hedges made in the parish. The rate thus levied does not
seem to have been paid very readily, for shortly afterwards the
churchwardens were desired to collect the money to reimburse Dd.
Edwards, and Evan David for timber, and eorpence of carnage towards
making and repairing the foot bridge of Pontfaen, and the foot bridge
of Abercerdinen, upon the river Granell, Mr. Edwards' UU amounting
to £Jf. 4s. Od. In January, 1799, it was ordered forthwith to pay
David Evans, saxton, los. 6d. for 'making and erecting Pontvane foot-
bridge.

The saxton was a parish officer, duly appointed by the vestry,
hut whether or not it succeeded in managing him is prob-
lematical in the extreme. On the 29th August, 1791, David
Evan was chosen to be the clerk and saxton of this pansh church, and
to receive all the remainder from the parishioners. This would read
as if there were no stated wage for performing the duties of the
office, simply getting what sum he could from the parishioners,
at baptisms, marriages, and funerals. A few years sufficed to
show that this arrangement would not work. Either the saxton
or the parishioners rebelled, for in 1797, at the "Nag's Head,"
it was ordered that David Evans, saxton, should have his customary
fees, id est, one guinea in lieu of the small tytlies, Jfd. from each
farmer, and also 2d. from each cottager. Mary David, the late

14

mxtorCs widow, in 1791, had 5s. for washing the suiplice, and the
guinea that Mr. J. Bees of New Inn is to pay.

Rees David Rees, buried on the 17th July, 1789, was wyer of
the town. A few months before his death, a new handbell wax
bought by the vestry. One Simon Davies was allowed the difference
between the two handbells, th# old one weighs Jflbs. 2oz., at 6d. per lb.,
the new bell weighs 6Ws. Hoz., at Is. per lb., and 4s. lOd. appears
in the accounts for 1788-9 as paid for the Handbell. For singing
the street the crier got Is. in 1792, as also Is. for singing tlie
Vagrants' Bill two times.

Foxes and their extermination, of course, had to be dealt with.
In 1793, sporting instinct pervaded the vestry, the parishioners
having left on record that we do joyn to get a person with dogs,
in order to kill and destroy foxes in this parish, and to discharge
the expense of the same. Before long, two men and ten hounds were
kept one day and night in the parish at a cost of 3s. ; followed at
another time with 12 dogs and one horse, 4s. Then, too, we read of
10s. being allowed to David Thomas of Olwen, and his collegs (being
his son, servant, and Tho. Dd. Thos. Lewis), for killing foxes, being an
old dame and two whelps ; 3s. 6d. paid to Evan Thomas, cooper,
for killing a fox, being a she one ; 3s. 6d. to James Jones, butcher,
for killing another fox; and 10s. were paid to Mr. Charles Ed-
munds for meat and drink to the fox-hunters, at two different times.
The century closed with 10s. 6d. paid to TIws. John Jenkin, for
hunting foxes, last year.

Peterwell gets mentioned now and again. Mr. Rees Davies
was agent for the estate in 1784, and on the 12th April he
promises to pay PeterwelVs taxes, amounting to £2 6s. 6d. In 1795,
Evan Thomas, cooper, again comes on the scene, this time to
receive 10s. for destroying the crows (young and old if possible) in
the rookery on Peterwell Farm, particularly in the Pigeons 1 -house field.
By a previous order, the vestry allowed every farmer thro 1 the
whole parish, for every crow killed upon their tenements, and no where
else, one penny for every crow, or one shilling per dozen, to be paid
them by the overseers of the parish. The last we hear of Peterwell
is in a sadly significant entry of the 28th May, 1798, when the
parishioners consented to pay £1 10s. Od. for the carriage of stones
from Peterwell, towards re-building John James, the Sadler's house.
Mr. Herbert Lloyd is to discharge all other expenses.

Militia matters were never long absent from vestry discus-
sions. In April, 1779, but a fortnight after the Easter election

15

of churchwardens, the parishioners had again to meet, to nominate
and appoint John Thomas, of Gwarcoed, to serve the office of church-
warden for ensuing year, instead of and in the room of John Evan, of
Glandulas, who belongs to the militia of this county, by employing a
substitute to serve and join the corps. Next comes a vestry which
raust have been an important one for the parish. It met at
Chelton Leigh's house on the 9th February, 1780, and agreed
that every person's name that was inserted in the list of the Militia, is
to pay 2s. 6d. each, and those that are not willing to contribute the
above sum is to run the risque of serving [as] a Militiaman, without
any benefit from the parish. The money is to be collected as soon as
occasion requires. It was likewise agreed that He whose lot will happen
to serve is not to employ another man who has a wife and children, for
fear the woman will come chargeable to the parish. Mr. Edwards
[churchwarden] is to receive the money for the parishioners.

Shortly after the defeat of the French fleet by Lord Howe,
off Brest, came the call for more men to enter the Royal Navy ;
and we should like to have been present in the " Black Lion "
parlour when the vestry met there on the 7th April, 1795.
With one consent, the parishioners then agreed to make a rate, to
be rated at one shilling in the pound out of the poor's rate, according to
a surrey of this parish to the land tax, which sum is to be given as

BOUNTY TO A VOLUNTEER FOR THE ROYAL NAVY.

Nor were Lampeter men to be alone in this matter. The
parishes of Llanfair Clydogau and Bettws Bledrws were unitedly
to contribute with this parish for the sams purpose ; and the expenses
attending the Vestries, and otJier incidental expenses attending rising
this Volunteer, were to be defrayed by the three parishes. There
was no little jollity at this meeting, and " cwrw " flowed freely —
the scribe ending his minutes with the significant entry, Mem :
that 7s. 6d. was paid for ale in this vestry !

Like wild fire rang the cry through the streets of the town,
"The French are coming, they are off the coast!" and at the
time they landed at Fishguard the vestry meets. For what
purpose ? To advance a fresh rate, rated at 2s. in the pound from the
poor rah, towards procuring a man to the Navy or the Army, and also
to discharge the arrears due to the late Churchwardens and Overseers,
hesides other incidental expences, particularly £5 due to the Lotman for
serving in the Militia.

Then came the news of Nelson's glorious victory at the Battle

\ *

16

of the Nile. Lampeter was all jubilant with it. Thomas Davies,
of D.ole, and Evan Davies, of Abergranell, were the church-
wardens, and on the 29th October, 1798, the vestry desires one
or other of them — should occasion require — to attend Thos. D.
Harries to joyn the supplementary Militia at Haverfwdwest ; also to
pay Harries £5, being due to him according to Act of Parliament, as
he is a Lotman in the supplementary Militia, and to charge the parish-
ioners for the sum. Loyalty was to the front. One guinea was
furthermore to be allowed to the churchwarden for delivering and
conducting David James, the substitute of Thos. D, Hairies, to the
Commanding Officer of the supplementary Militia at Haverfordwest.
Not only was the churchwarden to do this, but the vestry
charged him to get a certificate of the deliverance of the said person,
in order to indemnify the parishioners here.

With the touching record about Evan David and his mare,
this chapter must, with the century, end. The parishioners met
together in the "Ship Inn" on the 5th October, 1801. We can
picture them all. In the seat of honour, presiding over their
deliberations, was Vicar Wm. Williams. Close to him sat the
two wardens and overseers, Squire Thos. Jones, jun., of Neuadd,
and Wm. Jones, of Ffynnon Fair, but late of Dolau ; around
were the chief people of the town. Evan, who had been living
at Lletty'rtwppa, had been so unfortunate as to have had his
mare stolen from him. The poor fellow was in sore straits, and
accordingly his brother parishioners, to their credit is it re-
corded, allow him 8s. for four weeks, on the understanding that
if he can have his mare that was stolen back, hell endeavour to earn his
bread for the future. Exit happy Evan, and generous vestry !

Care of its floor.

If it were possible to study all records of the methods of poor
relief carried out by every town and parish in the eighteenth
century, the very large majority of such records would show
that the work was thoroughly well done. True, relief was
granted very often in ways* that now cause us to smile. Our
grandsires gave it in kind — corn, potatoes, bread ; our Charity
Organisation Societies do the same to-day : a century and a half
ago Lampeter was sending the sick to the seaside ; to-day the
same method, in principle, holds good ; then it clothed its parish
ideot y now the parish pays its share towards clothing and keeping
its idiot in an asylum. Our problems of to-day are much the
same as those which faced our forefathers, and we have still to
go out quickly into the streets and lanes and bring in the poor,
and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.

It fortunately happens that the minutes of the Lampeter
Vestry are exceedingly rich in their references to the relief of
the poor, so rich, in fact, that the difficulty confronts us as to
what items we must, for want of space, omit in these chapters.

The custom of making the parish poor wear a badge was
in vogue here so late as the year 1783, when, at the Easter
vestry, it was ordered that the paupers are to wear the customary
letters of

upon their outward apparel. Four years previously, however, we
find that the parishioners, at their Easter vestry, adjourned to
the house of Chelton Leigh, had decreed that the paupers that are
supported by this parish are to wear the customary letters upon their
outward apparel. That those in receipt of parish relief did not
care to wear these customary letters was but natural, and the
overseers, doubtless, had some difficulty in seeing the edicts put
into practice.

Great care had to be exercised to watch that a poor person,
likely to come on the parish for relief, was really a parishioner ;
if not, then at once the unfortunate person had to be removed to

3

18

his " proper settlement," as it was termed. Let us take the case
of William Thos. Rees and his wife, who caused much trouble
and expense to Lampeter. He and his wife Esther entered the
parish on the 6th November, 1778, and four days afterwards a
vestry was held in the house of Daniel Evans, for the purpose of
procuring the best intelligence whether Wm. Thos. Bees can make
himself a legal parishioner here or not. Furthermore the Lampeter
ratepayers, then paying a poor rate of Is. lOd. in the pound, and
a church rate of 2d., said, we are determined to get the best advice
we can in the case, before we will admit him to Jiave his maintenance
here. Meanwhile Rees and his wife were starving, and on the
30th November the vestry again meets, this time in Chelton
Leigh's house, and allows Hester the wife of Wm. Thos. Rees, 2s.
per week for Iter maintenance during her residence here. Having
voted this relief, the parishioners at the same vestry agreed
to employ an attorney to espouse our case at the next General Quarter
Sessions at Carmartlien, in regard to Wm. Thos. Rees for attempting to
make himself a parishioner here without sufficient authority.

Evidently Rees — like many others after him — had come to
stay at Lampeter if he could, and to be supported out of its
rates. But he had reckoned without his hosts. Lampeter was
not anxious for his company. What did it do ? Evan Jenkins,
of Alltfawr, one of the overseers, and Daniel John, the cooper,
take Rees with them to the Quarter Sessions at Carmarthen.
Their expenses there and back, horse hire and food, cost the
parish 18s. 8d., as well as 2s. 'paid, for a cockade at Carmarthen*
But the end of the affair was that in a day or two afterwards the
vestry gladly paid 3s. more for sending Wm. Thos. Rees, and Esther
his wife from this pansh to Llanfynidd [Carmarthenshire] with two
Iwrses. It is true that 5s. 6d. also were spent for ale at the
parish meeting, but the intruding beggar and his wife had been
ejected, and that too with a pair of horses, from the parish.

On the other hand, Lampeter was generous to a degree to
its own deserving poor, and tjiis the parish could only do by
a careful administration of its available funds. In July, 1779,
one Thomas Dd. William was granted 2s. in order to go to the sea-
side for the sake of his bad state of health; but awhile after, we read
how that, at a vestry held in the " Black Lion," it was ordered
not to allow any more money to Thomas Dd. Williams 7 wife as she

* I cannot yet say what this entry really means.— 6.E.E.

19

enjoys her usual state of health. In May, 1784, the parishioners
were assembled in the " Swan," and before them appeared John
Dd. Evan, with his tale of woe, which so melted the vestry's
heart that it granted him 7s. towards providing firing, for, as he
said, he will ask no more untill All Saints' Day.

Then who will gainsay that humanity and sympathy prompted
not the action of the vestry of February, 1785 ? Foregathered
in Charles Edmund's house, the case of David Evan John George
came up for consideration ; he was coatless and ill, and at once
the sum of 2s. 6d. is allowed towards the defraying of his expences to
Llanwrtid Wells, also cloth for to make a coat for the above pauper.

Again, in April, 1788, when John Griffith, surgeon, and Rees
Evan, of Llwyn Fair, were churchwardens and overseers of the
poor, there is the case of the parish boy, apprenticed to Evan
Evans, shoemaker* The lad was out of sorts and unable to
work. Evan rightly brings his case to the notice of the vestry,
and is granted Is. 6d. per week for keeping the apprentice boy
during his illness, and to defray expenses for procuring sea water
to him, and also necessary cloathes. Here is the account of the
monies expended on this case other than the weekly allowance : —

£ s. d.
Horse to Evam' apprentice to seaside 2 S
Pare of stockings to apprentice
Two shirts

Coat, wastcoat, hitches
Making wastcoat
Mending the cloathes
Leather for appurn

£1 7 7\

One wonders if Lampeter tailors to-day charge more than six-
pence for making a waistcoat.

After sending the lad to the seaside, and finding him clothes,
the vestry still kept its eye on him, for we read how, on the 5th
January, 1790, at the "Black Lion," the parishioners have unani-
mously discharged John David, pauper, late apprentice to Evan Evans,
shoeniaker, and allow him no mare, as he is very firm, healthy, and out
of danger, seemingly, at present ; and never had gained a legal settle-
ment in this parish, nor proper m*ders procured to settle him here ; as
witness Mr. Davies of Lloyd Jack's opinion touching this John David's

entice

..006

>»

...0 6 5

>>

... o n %

>>

...0 6

>»

... 2 i

>>

... 1 3

20

settlement. In other words, Lampeter people had generously
kept, clothed, and apprenticed this stray lad, even though he
was not one of them nor had any legal claim upon them.

Wars and rumours of wars were in evidence in 1795; the
French were in everyone's minds, soldiers and sailors were to be
seen in our roads and lanes/ One strayed even unto Lampeter.
It was cold December, mine host Thomas Williams, of the
" Black Lion," had lighted the fire of his large room, and sanded
the floor, and seen to his tap and his " churchwardens," for was
not the vestry about to be held in his house ? Message had been
brought him from Churchwardens Charles Edmund and Thomas
Evan, of Cappeli, that Vicar Williams and the parishioners were
going to hold a vestry under his roof. They had to consider
the case of a sailor, who was accidentally taken ill on his way home
to Liverpool. His sickness and ailing had laid him low on the
25th of November. He had been from that day at the " Grey-
hound," kept by John Evan, who had been maintaining and
watching the becalmed sailor, and accordingly the vestry allowed
the landlord sixpence per day for his kindness to the traveller.

The care of Evan, the parish ideot, extended over many years,
and right well do his fellow parishioners seem to have looked
after the welfare of their unfortunate brother. Several entries
refer to him. He first comes under our notice in February,
1778, when the vestry ordered for him a suit of cloathes, as soon as
conveniency will permit Later on it is ordered to provide one shirt,
Irreeches, and waistcoat for tJie Ideot. He was boarded out in the
parish, and in 1787, Jane Thomas, of Llwyn Ieir, is given
£4 0s. Od. for keeping, nursing, and maintaining Evan the Ideot for
a whole year. The churchwardens for the time being to see and ex-
amine that the said Ideot is used properly. We also allow him a
flanen shirt, and one to be allow 1 d and given again to the Ideot. In
1792, at the Easter vestry, adjourned from the parish church to
the "Black Lion," the wardens and overseers, David Jenkins,
" Three Horse Shoe," and Thomas Saunders, of Undergrove, are
ordered to settle Evan the Ideot as before, with Evan of LlettWtwppa,
for 2s. per week ; if Evan will refuse to keep him for so much, then he
is to go about the parish as before. The parishioners were evidently
not over anxious to have the Ideot in their homes, and small
blame to them.

Doctors then, as now, occasionally caused the overseers some
trouble, and needed watching. On the 6th March, 1799, the

21

vestry had to deal with one Margaret David. It was ordered
that she should be endeavoured to be cured of her disagreeable and
strange malady, in as moderate a manner as possible. Mr. Thomas,
the Surgeon, undertakes her case for two guineas: no cure no pay.
Can anything be more to the point than this no cure no pay ?
The parishioners were determined to receive some benefit for
their money !

Elinor J. Rhydderch was a woman long in receipt of parish
money. She lived in a humble tenement, and there, in 1798,
•her candle flickered out. Evan David, of Abergranell, and
James Ho watt, of Panteinle, were the overseers, and the vestry,
held on the 7th May in the parish church, authorised them to sell
off the effects and furniture of the late Elinr. J. Rhydderch, and the
whole amounted to 16s, 5£d. This sum was thereupon expended
upon her burial. Jenkin Edward had 10s. 6d. for her coffin, and
old Sarah David received 5s. 6d. for attending, &c, two weeks, and
a further shilling was granted her for washing the corpse. John
James, the saddler, who had previously been in receipt of one
quarter of barley, as he has so many children, and being so very
indigent, was then accommodated with the house of the late
Elinor Jenkin Rhydderch, untill such time as we can furnish him
with a superior one.

Yes, Lampeter Vestry, according to its light at the time, was
well to the front in its guardianship of the poor: it seems
to have turned its attention to all things, even from taking care
of old Betty Wm. Lewis's Feather Bed at Drefach to the payment of
13s. to Mr. Herbert Lloyd to appear at the Quarter Sessions.

<iflcrrBbeg0ts.

Any historian who would assay to write faithfully and fearlessly
the story of such a parish as this must., in some way or another,
deal with the enormous immorality prevalent within its borders
in the eighteenth century. As we read the entries in the
earliest parish register, we cannot but be struck with the num-
ber of reputed sons and daughters brought to Vicar Erasmus
Lewes and his successors for baptism or burial. The Registers
record their advent, and the Vestry Books tell us how the
parishioners dealt with these hapless mites of humanity. Nor
must it for one moment be supposed that such immorality was
characteristic only of the humbler parishioners ; far from it, as
we shall see. It was taken very much as a matter of course all
over the land, and " scape-begotten," "filius terrce," "filia vulgi,"
" uniuscujusque" "filius popwli* "byeblow," and the like, are /the
terms used in various registers to denote the result of breaking
the seventh commandment.

Where an illegitimate child was born, in that parish it had to
be reared. Cases are recorded where the overseers removed
women to their legal settlement, in order that the burthen of
supporting and rearing the child might only fall on the mother's
native place. Nor is this now to be wondered at ; for instance,
where the available poor's fund was only £10 15s. Od. for the
whole year, as it was at Lampeter in 1715, it was no small item
to take out of it the sum of £1 14s. Od. for Harry's bastard child ;
or, in 1728, to pay £2, out of a poor rate yielding £10 0s. Od.,
for another such waif. Little wonder then that, in 1787, the
churchwardens of Lampeter were authorised to apprehend David
Josua, who is the reputed father of the daughter of Jane Evan, in
order that the parishioners may be eased of the burden — a burden
which, however, the next accounts tell us was laid on them, to
the sum of £2 8s. Od., for Jane Evan, the fidler's child ; or that,
in 1794, the overseers were wdered to apply to two magistrates for
the removal of Mary Jenkin to the parish of Llanwenog before her
confinement, and also to give notice to the churchwardens and overseers
of the poor of the parish of Llanwenog to keep and maintain Mary

23

Jenkin, in the sd. paiish, untill her lying in, and in case of a refusal,
they shall be proceeded against forthwith. With a poor rate that
year of 4s. 4d. in the pound, Lampeter was not going, if it could
help it, to pay what was legally due by Llanwenog.

Perhaps the case of Stephen Abel Morgan throws as much
light as any upon the customs of the time. Just before Christ-
mas, 1790, the vestry was summoned to meet at the parish
church and at once adjourned to the house of Daniel Evans.
Stephen had evidently been staying at Lampeter, but not for a
sufficient length of time to have gained his settlement here. *He
had gone to London, leaving behind him a child burdensome on this
parish. What was to be done ? Try and get rid of the babe it
must. William Thomas, the overseer, was ordered to apply to Henry
Jones, of Tyglyn, Esquire, for a warrant of complaint on Stephen. This
having been obtained from Squire Jones, one Enoch Nathaniel,
of the parish of Llanwenog, is to go up to London, and execute the
warrant, and to compel the said Stephen to make an affidavit of his
parish before one of His Majesty's Justices of the Peace. A bargain
as to terms is arranged between the vestry and Enoch Nathaniel
— terms eminently favourable to Lampeter — viz., the vestry
allowing him for his expence on his journey, the sum of one pound,
and one shilling, also mother guinea provided that lie can execute the
commission, otherwise no moie. And to London Enoch evidently
went.

Six months elapse, and June comes, when next the vestry,
meeting at the Sign of the Black Lion, deals with Stephen. The
child is still at Lampeter, and the overseers, David Thomas,
Olwen, and Thomas Isaac, Lletty'rtwppa, are allowed to agree with
Mrs. Evans for conveying the son of Stephen Abel up to London, and
to deliver him to his father ; the overseers are further to allow the
said, and to agree with the woman as moderate as possible. For some
reason or another Mrs. Evans does not go to London there and
then, and on the 29th August the vestry authorises the overseers
to clothe the child of Stephen Abel in a decent and comfortable manner,
untill such time as the parishioners can be able to remove him to his
father in London, or to his proper parish. The boy is put out to
board, and on Easter Monday, 1792, the accounts show this
item: — The child of Stephen Abel, 20 weeks @ Is. 6d. per week,
£1 10s. Oi.

Stephen's boy is not yet off the vestry's hands. Meeting on
the following 4th June, at the 8 Horse Shoe Inn of Dd. Jenkins l

24

the parishioners order the churchwardens, of whom mine host
David Jenkin is one, to attend and examine the child of Stephen
Abel, that they may guess how much clothing or wearing apparel is
necessary for him at present. As we read this, we cannot but
think that Stephen Abel was — as the term goes — "someone,"
else why all this care of his boy ? Subsequent entries seem
to show that Abel's boy was finally apprenticed in the parish.

At this same time the vestry must have had its hands full,
for there was likewise one Dr. Gower to be looked after, and
made to contribute to the parish funds. It was the old story, the
parishioners were determined to compel Dr. Gower to defray what
money they are to lay out towards his child. That was in August,
1792. Dr. Gower did not pay, so in February, 1793, the vestry
determines to procure an Attorney's letter immediately in order to
compel Mr. Gower, the Doctor, to pay for keeping and maintaining his
bastard child here. Some months later the parishioners allow 15d.
per week, towards maintaining the child of Dr. Gower, untill such time
as he will settle the little girl, and to defray the expenses of the par-
ishioners. He is to be apprized of this proceeding by a letter. The
girl was boarded out in a neighbouring parish, and the father
continued obdurate, took no notice of the letter, and sent no
cash. John Leigh and D. D. Jenkins, mercer, are elected
wardens and overseers, and they try what they can do. The
vestry is assembled in the "Three Horse Shoes" on the 12th
May, 1794. It orders an additional 6d. in the pound on the
poor rate, and then decides to proceed against Dr. Gower unless he
gives security to the parishioners for his natural child, now at SUian.
No good, Dr. Gower simply ignores the vestry and its orders.
Another year passes away, and Charles Edmund and Thomas
Evans, Cappeli, come into office. Dr. Gower owes for two years,
amounting to £6 2s. 6d. They spend 3s. 6d. for an attorney's letter,
and go out of office without receiving anything from the doctor.
Their successors, John Williams, Penpompren, and David Joseph,
Tyhen, determine to proceed against Dr. Gower for the arrears due to
the paiishioners. Their year of office ends, and host William
Davies, of the sign of the " Nag's Head," and David Jones,
mercer, are elected. The vestry meets, quite naturally at the
"Nag's Head," on the 29th May, 1797, and decides to employ an
attorney to commence an action against Dr. Gower far Money, and
arrears of Money for severall years past, due to the parishioners of this
paiish.

25

If we turn to the parish registers, as already mentioned, we
get the same sad story over and over again. Take the case
of Oakley Leigh Esquire, of Brongest, who signed, sealed, published, and
declared his will on the 23rd December, 1788, and, eight days
later, was buried in the churchyard. Being, when he signed his
will, of perfect mind and memory, he. proceeds to devise his estate,
and the first thing he does is to give a farm and lands unto my
eldest, natural son John Leigh, of Lampeter, to hold it for his heirs
and in lieu of such to be divided equally between my natural children
Watkin Leigh, George Leigh, and John Leigh the younger. His
natural daughters Bridget and Charlotte Leigh get £20 apiece, also
a feather bed, a rug and two blankets, and a natural son Thomas
likewise gets ,£20 ; whilst another natural son, Chelton, gets only
the sum, of one guinea. Now let the parish register tell its tale.

1766. Jan. 15. Baptised David and Jemima, being twins,
the reputed children of Oakley Leigh by Mary Price.

As no mention is made of these in the will it is probable they
died before the reputed father. Again —

1778, 7ber. 28. Bap. Bridgard, the bastard dau. of Oakley
Leigh, upon the body of Anne, the daughter of Dd. Thos. Lewis.

And so we might go on, but enough. Here is the case of a
parishioner — one who sat at Quarter Sessions, was steward of
the manor of Peterwell, portreeve, churchwarden, guardian of
the poor, in fact he had filled all parish offices open to him —
whose example it is little wonder was so faithfully followed by
many a humbler Shon and 8han.

the OTcrort feet.

This story of the Court Leet of Lampeter is made possible by
the personal interest and practical help of the present Lord
of the Manor, Mr. John Charles Harford. He has, with the
greatest readiness, put at the writer's disposal the extensive
collection of manuscripts and presentments of the Court, stored
at Falcondale ; and from these records, and from scattered
references in the Gaol Files in the Record Office, disinterred
at divers times by Mr. J. H. Davies, of Cwrtmawr, this chapter
has been written.

The presentments now available extend from those made at
the Easter Court Leet, 1741, down to those of the last Court,
held on the 15th November, 1883, prior to the incorporation of
Lampeter borough and the granting of the Charter in July,
1884. There are, however, breaks in their continuity, the most
serious being (as is frequently the case in other like documents)
the gap extending over the last quarter of the eighteenth
century. At that period, locally and elsewhere, the govern-
ment of the town was at a low state, and in all probability
the Court was only held at long intervals, and then but little,
if any, actual business was transacted, and that little not even
preserved in writing. Long before 1741, however, we get the
names of men who were presented to the chief office in the
town, that known at Lampeter as portreeve, or, as we say
to-day, mayor. The earliest name yet recovered is that of
Thomas David ap Rees ap Llew, who was portreeve in 1615-6,
in the reign of James I., the year of Shakespere's death.

Into some of the methods of procedure at the Court Leet we
get a peep, when, in 1755, the Case of tlte Lordship and Manor of
Lampeter was drawn by Mr. James Price of Killgwin, with the Advice
and Opinion of Richard Aston Esq. Lampeter folks thought they
were in danger of losing certain privileges, as irregularities had
crept into the Court's ways of electing the portreeve. Ac-
cordingly Mr. Aston's advice was sought. He lived at Rams-
bury, in Wilts, then and perchance now " noted for most
excellent beer," and from this little place he dates his Opinion

27

on the 3rd September. This somewhat lengthy document was
carefully entered in a large vellum-jacketed folio, tied up with
leathern thongs. One hundred and fifty years have left their
marks on it, arid now it is but a sorry wreck. However, with a
little trouble and care, it has been possible to transcribe nearly
every word of Aston's Opinion, and from the writer's copy he
now quotes : —

ie The Burrough of Lanpiter in Cardiganshire is a Corporation
by Perscription, and by the last resolution of the house of
Commons about the Election for the town of Cardigan, the
Burgesses of Lanpiter are declared to have a right to vote in
electing a Burgess to serve in Parliament for Cardigan.

The resolution here alluded to was that consequent upon the
famous incident of the double return in 1729, when Thomas
Powell, of Nanteos, and Richard Lloyde, of Mabws and Ystrad
Teilo, were both returned of the one seat as member for the
borough. On the 7th May, 1730, the "Journals of the House
of Parliament " state it was resolved " That the Burgesses of the
Borough of Tregaron have not a right to vote in the election for
the town of Cardigan. The right of election is in the Burgesses
at large of the Boroughs of Cardigan, Aberystwyth, Lampeter,
and Adpar only, and that Richard Lloyde, Esq., is duly elected."

The Opinion proceeds : —

The Town of Lanpiter is scituate within the Lordship of
Lanpiter, part of the estate of Millfield in that county ; the
chief Officer within the town is called a Portreeve, who is, or
ought to be, annually appointed, and hath teen usually elected
and sworn into the office in this manner, viz.: — The jury at the
Leet Court present a proper person to serve the office, and Steward
or other president of the Court swears such person into the office of
Portreeve, at the Michaelmas Leet. Upon looking into as many of
the presentments of the Lordship as are now to be found, some of
which are about SO years' standing, it appears that all the Court
Leets were held before the Lord of the Mawr, or his Steward,
except in a few instances within these twelve years, and the last of
them in 17 49, when soms of the Leet Courts were held before the
Lord or his Steward joyntly with the Portreeve; and some of
tliem by the Portreeve alone. About seven or eight years ago the
same person continued in the office of Poiireeve for 2 or 8 years

28

together without being annually presented or sworn into office, and
until those three years, the Portreeves for the time being have
frequently neglected to take the Sacrament to qualify themselves
for the office ; but none of these officers have been impeached, nor
is it probable enquiry will be made until election contests arise.

For many years a person on being admitted into any office,
civil or military, had to appear at Quarter Sessions, and there in
open court produce and duly prove a certificate of his haying
taken the Sacrament. This being satisfactory, he was then
allowed to ttetke the several oaths and subscribe the declaration
required by law. At the Epiphany Quarter Sessions, 1773,
which were held at Lampeter in the house of Thomas Williams,
innkeeper — " The Black Lion " — John Morgan attended as
portreeve, presented and elected at Michaelmas previous, pro-
duced his certificate, and was thereupon formally admitted to
the office. The certificate was in this form : —

We, the Minister and Churchwardens of the Parish, and
Parish Church of Lampeter pont Stephan, in the county of Car-
digan, do hereby certify that John Morgan, sworn Portreeve of
Lampeter at the Court Leet, held on Miclmelmas, 1772, did on
Sunday, the — day of December last, receive the Sacrament of the
Lord's Supper in the Parish Church aforesaid, immediately after
Divine Service and sermon, according to the usage of the Church
of England. In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our
hands, the — day of January, in the year of oar Laid, 1773.

w, wit \ Minister of the Paiish, and
» rV m. w imams, y r> •»./#? l _*• # j
% y ) Parish Church aforesaid.

Robert Pilkington \ Churchwardens of the same
Henry Jones ) Pansh and Paiish Church.

The wardens so certified : —

Robert Pilkington and Henry Jones do severally make oath that
they did see the said John Morgan in the above written certificate
named (and who now present hath delivered the same into this
Court) receive the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper in the Parish
Church above said. And that they did see the said certificate
subscribed by the said Minister and Church Wardens.

Robert Pilkington.
Henry Jones.

29

* The oath taken by the portreeve at the Court Leet was : —

/ John Morgan, do faithfully promise and swear, well and
truly to execute and exercise the place and office of Portreeve of
the manor, borough, town and lordship of Lampeter-pont-Stephan,
arid to maintain and support the jnst rights and privileges of
the said manw, borough, town, and lordship, according to the
utmost of my skill, knowledge and power. So help me, God.

The Court Leet was, as a rule, held at one or other of the
town inns, the heading of the presentments being in some such
form as : —

1747, Ap. 27. Held at James Bees, Ale-house keeper, before
Thomas Jones, gent Portreeve, and Sir Lucius Christianas Lloyd,
Bart., Lord of the Manor.

That of the last Court was : —

1888, November 15, The Manor, Borough, Town, and Lord-
ship of Llanbedr, otherwise Lampeter Pont Stephen, At a Lest
Court, and View of Frankpledge of John Charles Harford,
Esquire, and Mrs. Mary Charlotte Elizabeth Battersby Harford,
Lord and Lady of the Manor, holden and kept at the Black
Lion Hotel, within the said Manor, before Thomas Lloyd, Esq.,
Portreeve, and Richard David Jenkins, Steward of the Court.

For a few years after the opening of the old Town Hall,
the Court Leet was held in it ; but the change was not for
long, and the "Black Lion" once again was happy. In 1821,
the second year of meeting in the Town Hall, the Rev. John
Williams, vicar, was elected portreeve, and he held his Court
there ; so, too, did the Rev. Henry Daniel, his immediate suc-
cessor ; whilst the Rev. John Hughes, Master of the Ghammar
ScJwol, portreeve 1826-7, and the Rev. Llewelyn Lewellin,
portreeve 1828-9, sat at the "Black Lion." After 1828-9, when
the Rev. Rice Rees was portreeve, and, strange at first sight as
it appears, Principal Lewellin was town scavanger, we find few
Courts held away from the "Black Lion."

On the morning of the day on which the Court Leet was
to meet, the town crier, with bell in hand, perambulated the
streets and made the customary proclamation : —

30

O YES, O YES, O YES.

All manner of persons that owe suit and service at the Court
Leet, and View of Frankpledge of Richard Hart Davis, Esquire
[or other name] Lord of the Manor and Laid ship of Lampeter
pont Stephen, draw near, and give your attention when your
names are called to serve your amerciaments.

When as many burgesses and other persons as could squeeze
themselves into the bar parlour had assembled, in response to
the crier's summons, the first duty was to call over the names
of the jurymen previously notified by the steward, who, in a
voice stentorian or otherwise, said : —

You good men that are returned to enquire for our Sovereign
Loid the King, answer to your names.

Those who appeared and answered had A P P written after
their names, defaulters called and not appearing were fined
6s. 8d. Having chosen their foreman, the steward administered
the oath to him first : —

You as foreman of this jury shall enquire, and true present-
ment make of all such things as shall be given you in charge.
The King's Counsel, your own and your fellows you shall well
and truly keep. You shall present nothing out of hatred or
malice, nor shall conceal anything out of fear, love, or affection ;
but in all things you shall well and truly present, as the same
shall come to your knowledge. So help your God.

The rest of the jury were then sworn : —

The like oath that C. D. your foreman hath taken on his part,
you and each of you shall well and truly observe and keep on
your parts.

After all presentments had been made and business done, the
Court was duly adjourned on this wise : —

YES, YES, YES.

All mannei' of persons that have given their attendance Jwre
this day are now at liberty to withdraw, till they are summoned to
appear again.

31

All commons belonging to the Lordship to be free and commonable to
all persons that pay chief rent, and nons else, or to be fined. Such is
the wording, with but little variation, of a presentment by the
jury once every year from 1741 to long into the nineteenth
century. It tells us how careful and how zealous Lampeter was
in asserting its immemorial rights over the Commons — the bit of
land common to all inhabitants of the town who paid their scot
and lot. As one reads these old presentments, the reality of the
value attached — and rightly too — to the Commons, comes home
very forcibly. In some form or another this town possession
was dealt with by every Court Leet.

At Easter, 1748, any one' opening gate or fence to Common, and
leaving it so is to be find 5s. without abatement.

At Easter, 1757, it is presented that the Commons be drained,
and standing waters be takn off.

The Michaelmas Leet of that year must have been a sorry
Court for Lampeter, it being the first recorded one at which a
bit of the Commons was successfully filched from the inhabitants,
and that, as one would naturally expect, by Herbert Lloyd, then
at the zenith of his power, not only as lord of the manor, but of
all else, at Lampeter. He presided at this very Court, and, in
bold hand, attached his signature to the original presentment
sheet, adding to it Lord of the Manor, in characters not to be
mistaken, either by John Morgan, the portreeve, or Thomas
Morgan, the foreman of the jury. This .is what the terror-
stricken inhabitants presented : —

A slang and part of the Commons that is below David Bees,
and strait to Thomas James' field to be the right property and for
use only of Herbert Lloyd, Esq., and far his heirs for ever.

Note carefully the wording, to be the right property, showing very
clearly that there was no asserting of ancient possession on the
part of Herbert Lloyd, who said, "I want it, you must give
it ;" and give it the jury did, for no brave "Shon Philip"* was
sitting on it. As we shall see later on, Herbert Lloyd at this
time ruled the Court; men were made burgesses of Lampeter

* Cf. " The House of Peterwell," 1900, chapters iii.— vi. Extra illustrated copies are in '
the libraries of St. David's College, Lampeter, and the Presbyterian College, Caermarthen.
One of the last letters written by Sir Herbert Lloyd, and other interesting matter, are
inserted in the author's copy, which, after his death, will be found in the Welsh National
Library, Aberystwyth.— 6.S.S.

32

(i.e., voters) from most of the parishes in Cardiganshire, Caermar-
thenshire, Pembrokeshire, and even Brecknockshire ; fines were
imposed at the discretion of the Lord of the Manor ; in fact, the
rights of the inhabitants had almost touched the vanishing point,
and we do not wonder at their feeling it necessary to seek the
Advice and Opinion of lliclmrd Aston Esq.

Not in all cases, however, was the tine to be at discretion, as,
for example, at Michaelmas, 1756, when the jury, even though
Herbert Lloyd was presiding over the Court, presented that all
foriners that turns geese, or other cattle as horses or cattle, or sheep,
to the Lordship Commons be fined 6s, 8d. As at first written, the
presentment was, be fined according to the Lord of the Manor, or the
Steward, and to be fined according to their discretion ; but the pen
has been heavily run through these words, and 6s. 8d. added
after them. Herbert Lloyd's autograph is not attached to this
Court's presentments ; for once the inhabitants were his master.

Closely akin to the Commons was the watercourse leading from
Croyddin to the town. It required a yearly cleansing, and, in
1747, it was ordered to be cleansed and scoured by the inhabitants
of the town, from the Stocks down; in 1748, the water course from
Croyddin to Lampeter, commonly call-ed Nontbach, is presented, to
be cleaned by the inhabitants of Lampeter, according to the ancient
custom; in 1756, the jury present any body as shall be found to
throw or empty any nausance to the brook called Nantbach, which
serves the inhabitants of Lampeter with water. The scouring was at
times divided, as in 1756, when the inhabitants below the stocks
were to cleanse the section from Croyddin and the upper part of the
town, and those out of Gorse Ddu the remainder, accoi'ding to Ancient
Custom. At times this watercourse was out of repair, as when, at
the Easter Court, 1757, it was ordered to be repaired in three weeks
by the inhabitants of Hie Corporation, in the following manner, viz., the
course and channel to be three feet deep, and three feet wide. The work
to be done by able workmen at the expense of the said Corporation, ami
the money to be levyed by way of tax and assessment, and the work to be
cam/d on according to the direction and inspection of Mr. John Evans,
and Thomas Jones, or the inhabitants to be firid £1 19s. lid. At
Easter, 1768, tlie water course leading from Croythin to Caeravon is
out of repair, and ordered to be repaired by the inhabitants of Lampeter
witin llf. days, or to pay a fine of 4s. each.

The Lordship Mill is in evidence from the first. At Easter,
1741, Thos. Morgan Rees and Evan Wm. Morgan are fined

33

9s. 3d. each for grinding corn out of ye Lordship's mill contrary to ye
ancientt custom. In April, 1747, the jury present the inhabitants of
the Lordship to have their right claim to grind their com by their use,
and to hinder any oth-er person or persons that brings their corn to the
sd. mill to grind their corn out of the Lordship ; and the following
Michaelmas the jury find it necessary to present any person or
persons that lives (tut of the Lordship and Libertys, or any foriners to
have no right to claim to grind their corn in the Lordship Mill, or else
the miller there to be find. At the same Court are presented all
persons within the Lordship that are usually to pay towards payment
for carrying of the mill stone off the Lordship Mill, and which is now
sett in the said Mill, are to pay their dividend when it is exacted,
paying within 7 days after it is rated on the inhabitants of the Lord-
ship. Mr. David Jones, of the Nag T s-head, and Mr. Thomas Jones, of
the George, both of the town and loidship to be fitt persons to assess the
rate for and towards payment for the carriage of the millstone aforesaid
to the Lordship Mill. Thatch and scelps had to be brought yearly
by the inhabitants for the repair of the mill roof. In 1748, Mrs.
Elizabeth Phillips is fined sixpence for not bringing thatch to the
Lordship Mill; and a further fine of sixpence is levied on the
good woman for grinding corn out of the Lordship Mill. At the
same Court, as at most others in the eighteenth century of
which presentments are forthcoming, fines are inflicted on all
persons that did or doth not bring thatch and scelps to the Lordship
Mill, if they will not bring within H days after the date of this
presentment. The following year the jury, at the Michaelmas
Leet, present all defaulters that has not been cleaning the Mill-pond
Whitsun-tide last. At Easter, 1756, before Herbert Lloyd, Esq.,
lord of the manor, Francis Dyer, steward, and David Daniel,
portreeve, the jury present that the Mill-measure, viz., the Quarter,
shd. be agreeable and equal in measure to the measure made use of in
the market town of Lampeter, and that the miller should make and
divide his measure for the raising of the dole dew to him according to
the said Quarter against the next adjournment of this Leet ; and when
he has so done, to destroy the small measure there made use of now.

The street of the town naturally came in for a share of the
jury's care. What its state was like in 1757 is pretty evident
from the presentment made at the Easter Leet, when it was
necessary to order all dunghills on the Street to be carryd off and
cleaned in 15 days, or the owners to be fined, ; and, a year later, the
inhabitants are to clear and carry away all the muck within tlie Street

5

34

of Lampeter within H days. In 1 765, we read that all persons that
throws or lays down ashes, guts, carrion, or any other offensive materials
in the Street of Lampeter are a nuisance, and fined 6s. 8d. for every
such offence to the Lord of the Manor. The Street was, of course,
High Street ; there were then no houses where now are Bridge
Street, College Street, and Bryn Road.

The whipping post and stocks stood together in the street
just opposite to the "Black Lion." They are yet remembered
by a very few aged persons, one of whom gave the writer an
excellent description of them. His informant, a native of Lam-
peter, where she was born over eighty years ago, can remember
seeing a man sitting in the stocks, with legs fast, on a fair day,
and with childlike curiosity speculating what would happen to
him should one of the ferocious bulls in the street charge him !
From the earliest presentments down to modern days references
to them are frequent. In addition to ordinary ones made by the
jury as to their being out of order and needing repairs, there are
one or two other references of more especial interest. At Easter,
1755, the inhabitants are required to bring three locks upon their
own charge to repair the stocks. At Michaelmas, 1757, the port-
reeve being Oakley Leigh — who ought to have sat every market
day in the stocks and not on the magistrates' bench — David
Daniel, blacksmith, and David Thomas, carpenter, were pre-
sented for nut putting the stocks and whipping post in repair, and
are to be fined according to discretion of jury, to Jfis., if they will
not make it up in nine days. The two men did not do the work,
and a year later — Oakley being yet portreeve — the presentments
bear witness that Daniel and Thomas were to be fined 20s. each,
to'be levied on their goods and chattels, if they neglect to erect, and put
up the stocks in the street of Lampeter, within five days 1 time. Next
comes an entry, rare in most Court Leet records, of a man "being
sentenced to the stocks. Herbert Lloyd, not yet a baronet, was
lord of the manor, and Jeremiah Lloyd was steward. The Leet
was an adjourned one, held on the 3rd June, 1761, at the
" Three Horse Shoes," kept by George Jen kin, himself one of
the jury. Before the Leet is brought John Howells, of Lam-
peter, presented for obstructing the Constable of the town to confine
one William, a journeyman of Ebenezer Jenkin, blacksmith — a dis-
orderly, drunken fellow — in the stocks for drunkeness and misbehaviour.
Howells, like many a man of later times, tried to rescue the
prisoner and prevent the constable from doing his duty, for

[the new york|
^PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOK, LENOX AND
TILDEN FOUNDATIONS.

35

which offence he is to be fined at the discretion of the Steward of
the Manor, who immediately makes this entry : —

J FINE JOHN HO WELLS TWENTY SHILLINGS,

JER. LLOYD,

STEWARD.

Pitching pence is a term of frequent use ; so early as Easter,
1742, we find the jury present Dd. Phillip as fitt to take the
pitching pence for the year ensuing, and to pay the watchmen for
keeping the ffairs from any disorder. Stall holders were charged a
penny for their standings on fair and market days, and the
amount so collected was devoted to public use. The Lampeter
market was one of importance; in 1770, we read in the Quarter
Sessions records, Jenkin Dairies, gent, appointed to make returns of
the prices of corn, at which the. same is and shall be sold at tJie Market
Town of Lampeter Pont Stephan ; and that the Treasurer of the County
Stock pay him out of the county money in his hands, at the rate of 2s.
far each return that he shall make. This appointment, together, with-
similar ones at Aberystwyth and Cardigan; was in pursuance of '
an "Act for registering the price at which corn is sold in the:
several counties of Great Britain, and the cjuantity exported and
imported." Every Quarter Sessions Jenkin presented 7 bis bill,
and from 1770 to 1785 the county paid him £72 for 720 returns.
In this latter year Thomas Williams, landlord of the "Black
Lion," was appointed Clerk of the Market at Lampeter, in the room of
Jenkin David, who resigned on account of his age and infirmities.
Jenkin must, however, have retained some connection with the
market after ceasing to make his returns, for the Vestry Book
tells us that on the 27th February, 1792, the parishioners de-
creed to allow no further allowance to Jenkin Dairies, barber ; as an
additional salary for being Clerk of the Market is allowed him from
this day.

That the Court Leet was likewise a Court of Justice is shown
from divers presentments in which fines were imposed for per-
sonal assault and battery. Easter, 1742, Thos. Dukes is fined
6s. 8d. far assaulting and beating Wm. Lewis, both of Lampeter ;
Easter, 1747, Mr. Hugh Lloyd, of Lloyd Jack, Thomas, son of James
Lloyd of Llanarth, and Jenkin Lewis, second son of the widow of
Porthry-noyadd, parish of Trevilan presented for beating Wm. Roger,
then present, Constable of the town of Lampeter, to the effusion of his
blood, according to what Dav. Samuel, Jenkin John, and D. Richard

36

swore before the Jury. No fine is recorded as having been imposed
in this case; Sir Lucius Christianus Lloyd, Bart., presiding! At
Michaelmas, 1761, John Thomas is fined 3s. 4d. for a dry fray
committed on the body of John Morgan's wife ; and, in 1763, Geo.
Bishop and William Jones are both mulcted in 6s. 8d. for
assaulting and beating one another. Bishop was then portreeve !

At one period the lord of the manor was entitled to a sum of
money on the marriage or death of a freeholder, or his children ;
also upon transfer of property.

1768. We 'present the death of David John Dd. Griffiths who
was a freeholder of this Lordship, and tlvat at his Decease there is
due to the Lord of this Manor, 10s.

1768. We present the death of David Davies, of Maespwll,
who was a freeholder, of this Lordship, and upon his Decease
there is due to the Lord of this Manor 10s.

1768. We present Thomas Davies to be a Common Free-
holder, upon the death of his father, 10s.

1768. We present the daughter of David Davies, Maespwll
married 10 s.

176^. We present John Saml, purchased one moiety of the
New House in Lampeter, 10s.

Burgess making was a feature at most of the Leets. The only
mode of acquiring the freedom of the borough was by present-
ment of the jury, who presented whomsoever they thought fit to
be burgesses. The privileges of the burgesses were the right of
voting for a member of Parliament, the right of common on the
Commons, and freedom from tolls within the borough. When ah
election was impending, as in 1761, when Herbert Lloyd was
returned for the boroughs, and in 1768, the Court was adjourned
from day to day, for many days in succession, to present and
swear in the burgesses. In January and February, 1761, the
Court sat for fifteen days for this purpose. The oath taken
was : —

/ John Jones, do in the sincerity of my heart, assert, acknow-
ledge and declare, that His Majesty King George is the duly
lawful, and undoubted Sovereign of this realm as well dejure, that
is of right King, as defaith, that is in the possession and exercise
of the Government ; and therefore I do promise and swear that I

37

will, with heart and hand, life and goods, maintain and defend
His right Title, and Government against the descendants of the
person who pretended to be Prince of Wales, during the life of the
late King James, and since his decease pretended to be, and took
upon himself the stile and title of King of England, by the name
of James the Third, or of Scotland by the name of James the
eighth, or the stile and title of King of Great Britain ; and their
adherents and all other enemies who either by open or secrets shall
disturb or disquiet His Majesty in the possession and exercise
thereof

Men were presented from all quarters of the country ; every
parish in Cardiganshire, Caermarthenshire, and Pembrokeshire
had Lampeter burgesses resident in it ; no matter where a man
lived, or what were his qualifications, so long as he was presented
and appeared at Lampeter before the Court Leet to be sworn.

Let us look how Sir Herbert Lloyd worked the matter for his
own ends. He wanted to be returned as the Member for the
Boroughs. Every vote was needed, and Pfcterwell must be fully
represented on the burgess roll. Sir Herbert was lord of the
manor, and at Michaelmas, 1758, he presides at the Court, and
by his side is the sleek, immoral Oakley Leigh, portreeve. The
following were presented and sworn as burgesses : —

Jos, Calender, Peterwell, gardiner.
John Hickman, „ coachman.

Peter Brown, „ under gardener.

David Thomas, „ footman.

Jenkin Thos. Jenkin, „ servant.

At the following Courts we find : —

David Bowen, late Agent of Peterwell.
Thos. Evan, Peterwell, butler.

John Smith,

a

butler.

Joseph Gilly,

a

groom.

Griffith Evan,

>i

undergroom.

Corbet Harries,

»

coachman.

Moses Bees,

a

ploughman.

Dd. Jenkin,

it

plmghman.

Andrew McDonald,

a

gardener.

Thomas Anwyl,

tt

glazier.

Richard Anthony, Biistol, plumber, at Peterwell.

38

Sir Herbert was elected, and these men, with others, had fulfilled
their oath well and truly to execute and exercise the place and office of
a Burgess.

Amongst the many hundreds of names of men presented as
burgesses, the following catch the eye, as it takes a cursory
glance over the lists; and, failing the possibility of printing
them all, are here recorded : —

1755. Jeremiah Lloyd, Esq.

Jenkin Davies, periwigg maker.
[Clerk of the Market, also bailiff. ]

Robert Archer Dyer, Aberglasney, Esquire.

ffrancis Dyer, Aberglasney, gent.

[Steward to Sir Herbert Lloyd. Both were sons of Robert

Dyer, solicitor, and brothers to John Dyer (1700? — 1758),

anthor of "Grongar Hill," who was b. at Aberglasney, and

is now probably best known by the sonnet addressed to him

by Wordsworth :

Bard of the fleece,

A grateful few, shall love thy modest lay
Long as the shepherd's bleating flock shall stray
O'er naked Snowdon's wide a&rial waste ;
Long as the thrush shall pipe on Grongar Hill.]

Daniel Jones, Caron, clerk.

Joseph Davies, Lampeter, clerk.

Tlws. Williams, Lampeter, clerk.

[Thos. Williams, the curate of Lampeter Pont Stephan, buried,
21at February, 1772. Cf. Parish Register.]

David Saunders, Lampeter, Innkeeper.
Gwynne Vaughan, Dolegwm, gent.

[High Sheriff, co. Caermarthen, 1773.]

John Vaughan, Jr., Dolegwm, gent.

[Popularly known as Old Vaughan of Dohjwm, p. 5. ]

1759. John Pugh Pryse, Esquire.

[Of Gocerddan; M.P. for the county, 1761—1768, Sir Herbert
Lloyd being then M. P. for the Boroughs ; presented burgess
of Aberystwyth, 1767 ; d. unm. 1774.]

Thomas Johnes, Esq.

[Of Llanfair Clydogau, and Croft Castle, Herefordshire; M.P.
for county of Radnor, 1777. By his wife, Elizabeth, dau. of
Richard Knight, of Croft Castle, Esquire, he had issue,
Thomas (1748 — 1816), translator of Froissart, owner and
beautifier of Hafod. Presented burgess of Aberystwyth,
1759.]

39

17o9. John Lewis, Llanerchayron.

[First of that name at Llanayron ; uncle and heir of John
Parry, who m. Ann, dau. of Walter Lloyd, of Peterwell,
Esq. ; admitted burgess of Aberystwyth, 1759.]

John JohneSy Doleycothy.

[Great-grandfather of Mrs. Johnes and Lady £. Hills- Johnes,
Dolau Cothi ; brother of Thomas Johnes ut supra. To him
Sir Herbert Lloyd wrote, on Sunday , 26th June, 1768, You
would oblige me very much if you co'd Let me Have some
Bank Bills or Drafts for Cash in London, favour me with
yr. answer what you can spare and my nephew shall wail of
you with the Cash. Cf. original letter given to the author
by Mrs. Johnes.]

Edwd. Vaughan, Greengrove.

■ [On one of the attic beams at Greengrove is carved, E.V. 1765 ;
E.V. 1771. He was father of John Vaughan, of Tyllwyd.
Cf. "Cardiganshire : Its Antiquities," 1903, p. 49.]

John Paynter, Havod.

[Life tenant of Hafod ; High Sheriff for co. Cardigan, 1763 ;
presented burgess of Aberystwyth, 1759 ; died 1775. Cf.
'* Lewis Morris in Cardiganshire," Y Cymmrodor, vol. xv.,
1901, D. Lleufer Thomas ; var. pp.]

Rev. Daniel Rowland, Llangeitho.

Philip Pugh, Clunmarch.

[D. 16th April, 1768, bur. at Llansawel; grandfather to the
Rev. — Pugh, M.A., Llandilo. Cf. Y Drysorfa Gynnull-
eidfaol, 1849, p. 168, where he is said to have been the son of
the Rev. Philip Pugh, of Blaenpennal, then Blaeuwern, then
Coedmorfawr ; but is this so ? By 1744, P. P. had lost wife
and all his children (cf. extract from his diary quoted in
"Hanes Eglwysi Annibynol Cymru," iv., p. 87). He must
have married again, for, on the 26th Feb., 1745-6, Madam
Pugh was present at the christening by P. P. of the son of
the Rev. Timothy Davies, Caeronen — (cf. Diary of T. D.,
printed in Welsh Gazette columns weekly, 1904). Had Philip
Pugh, Clunmarch, been issue of this second marriage, he
would not have been more than fifteen years of age in 1759 —
too early, surely, to have been made burgess of Lampeter.]

Uowdl Gwym.ne., Garth.

[Brother to Sarah Gwynne, who, on the 8th April, 1749, was
married at Garth, by John Wesley, to his brother, Charles
Wesley, divine and hymn writer. ]

1760. Moses Morgan, servL to Mr. Lloyd, at ye " Green Dragon"

Evan Wm. Lewis, servt. at ye " George"
1768. Rev. Mr. Thomm vHowells.

40

1767. Thos. Bowen, Wayn Ivor, Esq.

George Harries, Tregwynt, Esq.

John Davies, Llanvaughan, Esq.

George Vaughan, Dolegwm, Esq.

John Edwardes, Abermeirig, Esq.

[He built the present house, so long inhabited by John Ed-
wardes Rogers, Esquire.]

Rev. Mr. John Lloyd, Vicar of Llanarth.
Watkin Lloyd, Peterwell, gent.
Daniel John, servt. at MUlfield.
David Morris, joiner at Peterwell.
David John, servt. at Brongest
[Oakley Leigh's house.]

Joseph John, servt. at Oakley Leigh's house.

Walter Thomas, Goitre.

David John, the fidler, Gorwydd Parcel.

Rev. Mr. Thos. Evans, Vicar of Llanwnnen.

Thos. Rees, Alltyblacka ; gent.

David Jones, Dolewolf, gent.

[Ed. Presbyterian College, Caermarthen ; schoolmaster at Llan-
ybyther ; in 1759-60 had David Davis, Castell Hywel, as one
of his scholars ; published at Caermarthen, 1765, a Welsh
translation of Grotius's " Eucharista "; bur. at Llanwenog,
14th Dec. j 1797, David Jones, schoolmaster. Cf. note penes
Principal W. J. Evans, who adds further note received from
Professor D. L. Evans : — Brought up at Oxford, his mother
wanting him to be a clergyman, but refused to enter the Church;
went to India, and returned to Llanybyther.]

Rev. Mr. John Evans, Llanarth.

Andrew Howatt, Llanwenog parish.

[At Easter, 1794, the vestry nominated and appointed Mr. D.
D. Jenkins to serve as churchwarden in the room and instead
of James Howatt, who is loohd upon by the majority of the
inhabitants to be unqualify'd and incapable to manage and
execute the offices of the parish. In May, 1798, the vestry
ordered Evan David the new ch. warden to apply to Capt.
Thomas (or any other magistrate) for a warrant to summon
Thos. Davies, of Dole Owyrddon, James Howatt, and Eliza-
beth Howatt to appear before him, and to show cause what
objection the sd. Thos. Davies and James Howatt have to serve
the office of ch. warden and overseer of the poor for the ensuing
year, as they were duly nominated and appointed to serve the
said office.]

Evan William Lewis, Post, Lampeter.

41

1767. Rev. Mr. Thos. Parry, Llandmliogogo.

Rev. John Rees, Llangranog.

David Lloyd; Lampeter, gent.

Hugh Delahoid, Aberystwyth.

John Colby, Kilgerran, Esq.

Herbert Evans, Lowmead, Esq.

[He was b. 1746, and d. April, 1787 ; m. Anne (d. Sept., 1808,
aet. 69), sister of Sir Watkin Lewis. Col. H. Davies- Evans,
Highmead, Lord Lieutenant of co. Cardigan, writing to the
author in 1905, says : — Herbert's father was John Evans, who
died 1757, eel. 39 ; he married Elizabeth, dau. of David Lloyd,
a son of Edmoiid Lloyd, of Rhydybont, a younger branch of
the Llanfechan family. As for " Lowmead," it is the same as
" Hendy," the Highmead farm. The old house formerly had
a second story with dormer windows, but it was at best but a
small place. John Evans had hounds, which he kept at Low-
mead, and came there for hunting — he lived at Carmarthen.
His son Herbert kept on the hounds and built the present High-
mead, living at Hendy during the building. Herbert was the
father of Major Evans. Herbert was Sheriff of Cardiganshire,
1782.]

Rev. Timothy Davies, Cellan.

[Co-pastor with the Rev. Philip Pugh (d. 1760). / served with
him as a Son vnth a Father \ 27 years and about two months.
Cf. "Diary," printed in Welsh Gazette, Aberystwyth, 19th
Nov., 1903, to 14th April, 1904; original penes, the Rev.
Rees Jenkin Jones, M.A., Aberdar.]

One Thomas Jones was foreman of the jury at all the Courts
in January and February, 1767 ; he was able to sign his name,
most of the others being just able to make their marks.

177 S. Sir Watkin Lewes, Knight, of Ceril St., London.
[Brother-in-law of Herbert Evans, ut supra.]

David Lloyd, Alltyrodin, Esq.

[High Sheriff for co. Cardigan, 1781 ; son of Daniel Lloyd, of
Alltyrodyn, Esquire, and his wife Justina, dau. of John Price,
of Blaendyffryn ; great-great-grandson of David Lloyd, of
Alltyrodyn, Esquire, and his wife Mary, dau. of Henry Pryse,
of Abergorlech.]

Thos. Hawker, Aberystwyth, gent.

1774. Hugh Owen, M.P. for Pembrokeshire.

[Son of Sir William Owen (d. 1781) and his wife Anne Williams.
For his electioneering tactics, and those of Sheriff Thomas
Colby, of Rhosyeilwen, see "Old Pembroke Families," Henry
Owen, D.C.L., Oxon., p. 112.]

6

42

177 4, Rev. Mr. Wm. Williams, Curate of Lampeter.

Rev. Mr. David Lloyd, BrynUewith.

[Minister, 1742 — d. 1779, of Alltblaca and Llwynrhydowen con-
gregations; writer of the delightful "Brynllevrith Letters,"
quoted in "Cardiganshire: Its Antiquities," 1903, pp. 148 —
154; father of the Rev. Chas. Lloyd, LL.D. , "Quantity
Doctor," and grandfather of the Rev. David Lloyd, LL.D.,
Principal, 1835 — 1863, of the Presbyterian College, Caer-
marthen.]

Rev. John Williams, Clerk, Lledrod Upper.

Evan Rowland, Schoolmaster, Llangeitho.

Rev. Mr. Nath. Rowlands, M.A., Stork, near Egerton, Essex.

In May, 1764, when burgess making began to flourish, and
Sir Herbert Lloyd, then a baronet of one year's standing, ruled
everything in the lordship, it is well to note that the jury took
good care to present all defaulters that owe suit and service to this
Court to pay a fine of 6s. 8d. ; freeholders Is. 6d. ; landholders Is. ;
and labourers 6d.

With the granting of the charter by King George III., in 1814,
the Court Leet began its last new lease of life. For some years
before it had been practically dead, and if any Courts were held,
no presentments seem to have been preserved. This charter,
however, gives us some idea of what the Leet must have been
like in the first decade of the nineteenth century. It recites
that the borough was a very ancient one, and that the burgesses
of it, as well by prescription and custom as by means of divers
grants and charters from time beyond memory, had enjoyed
divers liberties, &c. ; and that it had been represented that
doubts had been entertained as to the admission of burgesses,
and the oath to be administered to them upon their being so
admitted ; and that by the loss of the greater part of the ancient
records and documents of the borough, it had become impossible
to ascertain in what manner burgesses might be sworn and
admitted. It then proceeds to reconstitute the borough under
the name of —

THE BURGESSES OF THE BOROUGH

OF
LAMPETER PONT STEPHEN,

and declares that the portreeve, bailiff, and constables should

43

be presented, sworn, and chosen as theretofore ; and it sets forth
the oath to be taken by the burgesses already, or thereafter to
be, presented at any Leet Court, which oath is to be taken before
the steward of the Court.

Dated on the 3rd January, 18 14, the charter, was before the
Leet when it assembled on the 19th of the month in the dwelling
house of David Jenkins, gentleman, Portreeve, and accordingly we
find it recorded that the jury was this day sworn in the manner
and form, and oath prescribed and set forth in a Charter of Incorpora-
tion lately granted the burgesses. The oath was in this form : —

/, Thomas Jones, do faithfully promise and swear well and
truly to execute and exercise the place and office of a Burgess of
the Borough of Lampetei'-pont Stephan, and to maintain and
support the just nghts and privileges of the said Borough, accord-
ing to the uttermost of my skill, knowledge and power. So help
me God.

This simpler one took the place of that given on page 36, and
Lampeter was no more bothered with James the Eighth.

New men and new manners appear with the charter. The
lord of the manor, who was instrumental in procuring it, was
Richard Hart Davies, described in the presentments of the Leet
held on the 13th September, 1813, when he. was presented
burgess, as of Mortimore House, Clifton, Gloucestershire, Esquire.
His trusty and energetic steward was Mr. Griffith Jenkins, gent,
of KiWronne, Llangoedmore, who held office, and was regularly
present at every Leet, until 1844, when he was succeeded by
Richard David Jenkins, who held the office until the last Leet in
1883. Richard Hart Davies bought the Peterwell estate from
John Baily Wallis, who was high sheriff for the county in 1806.

Swearing in fresh burgesses, and re-swearing old ones, kept
the Leet busy for several Courts. The first batch of names
includes those of

Herbert Evans, Highmead, Esquire.
[Son of Herbert Evans, ut supra.]

John Scandrett Harford, Frenchayes, Esquire.

[He married (1812) Louisa, eldest dau. of Richard Hart Davies ;
was D.C.L. of Oxford and F.R.S. of London; donor of the
fine site of St. David's College, Lampeter ; High Sheriff of
the county, 1824.]

u

Abraham Grey Harford, Bristol, Esquire.

[Brother to above ; assumed the name of Battersby by royal
licence ; m. Elizabeth, dau. of Major-General and Lady
Eleanor Dundas, of Carron Hall, co. Stirling ; father of John
Battersby Harford, Esquire, who, in 1850, m. Mary Char-
lotte Elizabeth, dau. of Baron de Bunsen. ]

Richard Poole, Gray's Inn Square, Solicitor.
James Whittingham, Lampeter, Esquire.
Daniel Bowen, Waunyfor, Clerk.
Thomas Jones, Noyadd fawr, Esquire.
[See "Brief Biographies," id infra.']

Thomas Hughes, Llwynygroes, Esquire.
David Lloyd Harries, Llandovery, Attorney at Law.
David Saunders, Undergrove, Minister.
[See "Brief Biographies," ut infra.']

John Saunders, Do., Land Surveyor.

Rice Vaughan, Lampeter, Esquire.

Wm. Edmunds, Sheerness, Surgeon, R.N.

Thomas Jones, Trebedw, minister.

Phillip Maurice, Danycoed, minister.

Wm. Davies, Trebanne, genU

Thomas Jeremy, Crybynau, farmer.

[Crybynau, parish of Llanegwad, co. Caermarthen ; his dau.
Anne m. (1825) the Rev. Thomas Jeremy Griffiths (Tan
Qimel). See " Brief Biographies," ut infra.]

Watkin Leigh, Tynyrhed, yeoman.

Sir Geo. Griffi.es Williams, Bart, Llwynywimood.

Not until August, 1815, was there held the last of the Courts
for presenting the 600 burgesses admitted at this time ; and on
the register thus formed Pryse Pryse, of Gogerddan, was first
returned as Member for the Boroughs in the election of 1818.

The last burgess making, en masse, was in May, 1820, though,
occasionally, one or two more were presented until 1831, when,
at the Easter Leet, Banker David Evans, of Falcondale, was
presented and sworn — the last man so admitted before the Re-
form Bill of 1832. In this year there were 220 inhabited houses
in the parish, 58 of which within the borough were holdings of
£10. The numbef of burgesses then on the register was 254.
There was then no criminal or civil court within the borough,
14 nor any gaol, except a lock-up room, which was under the

John Battersby Harford.

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PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOK, LENOX AND
TILDEN FOUNDATIONS.

45

superintendence of the portreeve. The police force consisted of
the constables (usually two) appointed at the Leet in May."
Commissioner James Booth, whose report contains these par-
ticulars, tells us that the population of the borough was : —

In 1801 969.

„ 1811 692.

„ 1821 827.

„ 1831 1197.

Commissioner W. Wylde, who, in 1831, held the local enquiry
as to Parliamentary representation, preserves further facts of
interest, e.g. : —

The bounds have not been perambulated for the last 60
years, but there are two persons still living in the town who
were present at the last perambulation, and one of them,
who has (more than once since) served the office of Port-
reeve, is considered to be a good authority on the point.

Several £10 houses have been built, since 1822, and five
are now building; and a new roatl from Ltandovery is also
in progress, which, it is expected, will add to the. prosperity
of the place. " ;

There are three large and ten smaller Cattle Fairs held
here in the year ; but it has very-little .other trade.

Lampeter is supplied with dryigoods from Bristol, which
come by sea to Aberayron, and ~ from * thence by land, a
distance of 13 miles. Bituminous coal comes from Newport
and Llanelly to the same port ; and stone, coal, and culm
are brought by land from Llandybie and Llandyvan, a
distance of 30 miles.

Land is let on the average of 16/- or 17/- per acre, except
near the town, where it is of course much higher.

The Assessed Taxes levied on the Parish were : —

In year ending 5 April, 1829 ... £122 12 11
„ „ 1830 ... £ 65 19 9

1831 ... £ 69 19 3

The greatest number of electors polled within the last
30 years was 152.

About 30 burgesses now reside in the Borough, and
about 200 more within seven miles.

46

So much, then, for Lampeter when Principal Lewellin held the
office of portreeve for the third time.

So late as 1817 the lord of the manor received fines on the
deaths and marriages of freeholders : —

We present the daughter of the late John Jones, Esq., of Deny
Ormond, a freeholder within this Lordship married, and the Lmd
of the Manor to be paid 10s,

We present the death of John Jones, Esq., of Derry Ormond,
who was a freeholder of this Lordship, and upon his decease there
is due to the Lord of the Manor 10s,

We present John Jones, Esq., to be freeholder upon the death of
his father, and the Lord of the Manor to be paid 10s.

We present the daughter of Mr. Walter Jenkins, of Maespwll
married, and t/ie Lord of the Manor to be paid 10s.

The last presentment of a death, but without the fine, was at
the Michaelmas Leet, 1879, held before David Uoyd, portreeve,
when the jury presented that —

The late Very Revd. Dr. Lewellin, Deem of St David's,
deceased in the month of October, 1878, having been Principal
of St. David's College, Lampeter, for the period of 51 years, and
also Vicar of the parish for many years; and thai the Rev.
Francis John Jayne, M.A., has been appointed Principal of
St. David's College, and the Rev. Darnel Jones Vicar of the
parish, in succession to the late Very Rev. Dr. Lewellin.

By degrees the Leet began to deal with fresh, practical
matters pertaining to the good of the body politic. The Com-
mons was more carefully guarded than before. Stallions parading
the streets on market and fair days were deemed a nuisance, and
their owners fined 10s. 6d. All persons diverting or turning the water
from the original course and spouts at the west end of the town, and
thereby preventing the inhabitants from having the use of the stream,
were, in 1823, presented to be acting illegally cmd thai mea/ns be
resorted to put a stop to such acts. At the same Leet were pre-
sented all persons using Hair Sheets, and other illegal means used by
them to destroy fish in all the rivers within this Lordship, and also at
unreasonable times, and are to be proceeded against as the law directs.
In 1835 it is ordered that all fairs for sale of pigs, in future,

47

be held on the Commons ; and at the same Leet the Sale of beer in
tents on the Commons on fait days is presented as an injury to
the resident householders. In 1846, persons not residing within the
Itorough were not to be allowed to erect booths for sale of beer, ale, or
purler within the limits of the borough ; and, in 1854, it is recorded
that the Common Land within the Lordship is now about being
enclosed, under the directions of the Enclosure Commissioners for
England and Wales.

The National School is mentioned in the Easter Leet present-
ments, 1829, when the jury present

The building lately erected on the Commons within the Lord-
ship, as a National School to be the property of the National
School Committee for ever.

At the same Leet were presented

Houses lately erected on the Commons near the town of Lam-
peter by the parish officers of Lampeter, to be the property of the
parish for the use of the poor of the parish of Lampeter for ever,
together with the gardens adjoining.

Three years later we read that

A certain unfinished building adjoining the poor-houses is to be
converted by the parish into a poor-house.

At Michaelmas, 1841, the jury presented

A piece of ground on the Commons for the use of the Inde-
pendent congregation, to enable them to build a meeting-house.
The breadth of the piece of ground not to exceed 13 yards, and the
length 20 yards. We nominate and appoint David Evans, Esq.,
Griffith Jenkins, Esq., and Mr. Wm. Price, Portreeve, as a com-
mittee to fix upon the scite. The congregation to pay to the Lord
of the Manor, a quit rent of Is. per omnium.

David Evans was the banker of Falcondale ; Jenkins was steward
of the Leet ; and Price was of Dolaugwyrddon.

Public events yet within living memory are preserved in these
presentments : —

Michaelmas, 1870. The new paiish church was rebuilt, and
opened, for Divine service on 9th June last.

The streets of Lampeter were first lighted with gas in Septem-
ber, and gas was first introduced into Lampeter in the autumn
of 1869.

48

1871. The postal telegraph arrangement commenced at Lam-
peter on Wednesday, 27 th of September.

1875. We present with deep regret tlie death of John Bat-
tersby Harford, Esq., Lord of the Manor.

1876. That the Market day of Lampeter has been changed
from Saturdays to Fridays weekly throughout the year ; also that
a monthly market has been established at Lampeter the last
Friday in every month throughout the year.

1877. The jubilee of 50th anniversary of the opening of St.
David's College, was held in the College grounds on the 28th June.

1878. That the Cambrian Archaeological Association held
their meeting in Lampeter in the month of August, under the
presidency of the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of St. David's.

1879. That the Town hall has been taken down for the pur-
pose of being rebuilt by the owners of the Peterwell Estate.

1880. That the foundation stone of the new Town Hall was
laid by Mrs. Harford, of Fakondale, on the 20th January, and a
silver trowel presented to that lady on the occasion. That St.
David's College Chapel was reopened on the 24th of June, after
being enlarged.

1881. That the new Town-hall has been completed, and a
memorial clock, to the memory of the late J. B. Harford, Esq.,
has been put up therein.

1882. That it was this day [17th October] determined at tlie
Court of Quarter Sessions held at Aberayron, by 25 votes to 16,
that the Q.S. in and for tlie county of Cardigan be held in future
in the town of Lampeter. We also present that it is the opinion
of this Court Leet, that in the event of the Municipal Corporation
Unreformed Bill, being reintroduced into Parliament, that the
town of Lampeter should be included in the schedule of towns to be
incorporated.

The last Court Leet was holden and kept at the " Black
Lion," on Thursday, 15th November, 1883. Be it remembered
that the last portreeve was Thomas Lloyd, solicitor; that the
last jury was composed of D. Lloyd, Bees Da vies, John Jenkins,
T. W. Evans, Roderick Evans, Henry Dawkes, Saml. Davies, Jr.,
Thomas Moore, B. Davies, David Davies, Thos. Edmunds, and
Thomas Roberts ; and that the last presentments were : —

Badge op Mayoral Chain.

THE NEW YORK

PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOH, LENOX AND
1 TILDEN FOUNDATIONS.

49

That the new Waterworks for supplying the town of Lampeter
with water from Henfeddau, otherwise Waunhelig Spring, has
been completed.

That the new Market-place of Lampeter, erected at the sole
expense of the Lord and Lady of this Manor, has been opened.

That inasmuch as Lampeter was not included in the schedule of
towns to be incorporated by the Municipal Corporation Act of
1882, a petition has been addressed from the inhabitants and
Jwuseholders of this borough, to the Privy Council, praying that a
Charter be granted to this borough.

Be it further remembered that the ceremony of publicly reading
the Municipal Charter of Incorporation for Lampeter was per-
formed in July, 1884.
The doings of the Town Council another pen must chronicle.

Quarter Sessions.

The first Quarter Sessions held at Lampeter of which any record
is extant is that of Michaelmas, 1739. It met in the dwelling
house of David James, innkeeper, and was presided over by Walter
Lloyd Esquire, his Majesty's Attorney General. At this inn, then,
as now, known as the " Black Lion," the Court met annually for
the Michaelmas Sessions for many years ; but it is not until
1764 that we get the house first named as the " Black Lyon."
Once, in 1770, ths dwelling house of Nicholas Mills, Lampeter, was
used, and there is a special entry to the effect that the County
Treasurer pay 20s. to Nicholas Mills for the use of a room in his
dwelling house for keeping the present Q.S. In 1771 there begins a
break in the holding of Quarter Sessions at Lampeter, for at the
Midsummer Court held at Aberystwyth it was

Ordered that for the future the General Q.S. of the year be held
alternatively at Cardigan and Aberystwyth, the same being found
much more convenient than if the same was continued, as hereto-
fore, to be held twice in the year at Tregaron and Lampeter.

In 1785 the Quarter Sessions again holds its Michaelmas Court
at the " Black Lyon," and here it continues to be held until the
end of the eighteenth century, later than which this chapter
does not deal.

Matters concerning Lampeter came before Quarter Sessions
pretty frequently, and from the references to them it is possible
to glean a certain amount of local history not obtainable else-
where.

The need of a town hall was felt as early as 1741, when we
come upon the record of an attempt to deal with the want,
which attempt, however, was not successful until 1820, when
Mr. John Scandrett Harford erected the one yet remembered by
many natives. At the Court held at Midsummer, 1741, it was
ordered that

Propei' workmen and artificers be employed by Sir Lucius
Christianus Lloyd, Bart., Lord of tht Manor of this town and
burrough of Lampeter, to make a proper estimate of what money
will be necessary to build and erect a Town Hall, within this

THE NEW tOKK!

PUBLIC LIBRARY |

AST3H, LENOX AND
j TILDEN FOWNDATI©N8.

51

burrough, and that they make a report of such expense to the next
Q.S., exclusive of stones and slates, the same being offered by
gentlemen now p-esent to be given gratis.

The magistrates present when this resolution was passed were,
Walter Lloyd, Sir Lucius Lloyd, Richard Lloyd, John Lloyd of Peter-
well, David LUryd of Lloyd Jack, Thomas Johnes, of Dolau Cothy,
John Jones, Thomas Lewis, Wm. Brigstocke, and James Brookes,
Clerk in Holy Orders. One would have expected that with such
a body of county men taking an interest in the matter, and
offering stone and slates, to be given gratis, the building of a
town hall would be at once accomplished. No report, however,
seems to have been presented at the next Quarter Sessions, as
ordered — none is referred to in the records — and there is no
further mention of the project.

Lampeter Bridge needed frequent repairs; so early as 1761
Herbert Lloyd, John Lewis and Edward Vaughan are desired to
inspect Lampeter Bridge, now presented as out of repair, and to agree
with proper workmen and artificers to repair or rebuild it. They did
nothing to it : year after year it was presented out of repair. In
1765 the Court again

Ordered that Thomas Johnes, Esq., Custos, Sir Herbert Lloyd,
Bart., John Paynter, Oakley Leigh, gents, and others do inspect
the decays of Lampeter Bridge and agree with proper workmen
and artificers to repair the same.

Still, nothing was done. Sir Herbert, at any rate, had other
duties in London, and Oakley Leigh had just then one of his
numerous reputed children affairs on hand. Five years elapse,
Sir Herbert's body is buried, and the public could stand the
ruined bridge no longer. The Quarter Sessions, voicing public
opinion, at its Easter Court held at Cardigan in 1770, passed
this resolution : —

At Michaelmas Q.S. 1765, it was ordered (as above); and
whereas the said aider not being put into execution they, the said
Sir Herbert Lloyd, and others so named for that purpose, having
neglected doing anything in obedience thereto, it is now ordered
that John Adams, Thomas Johnes, Thomas Bowen, John Johnes,
Henry Jones, John Jones, Edward Vaughan, Jeremiah Lloyd,
and John Davies, Esquires, and David Uavies and Oakley Leigh
gents, be desired to inspect into the decay of the bridge, and thai

52

they, or any two of them, agree with proper workmen and artificers
to repair the same, and such agreement to be reported to the next
or some subsequent Q.S.

Before the Michaelmas Court of that year a start was made, for
it was then

Ordered that the County Treasurer do pay £10 Os. Od. to
Oakley Leigh, being money laid out by him in the necessary re-
pairs of Lampeter Biidge.

The following Easter saw the repairs completed, and the Court,
sitting at Cardigan, ordered —

That the Treasurer do pay David Morris, carpenter, five pounds
and five shillings for repairing Lampeter Bridge, in pursuance of
an agreement entered into with him for that purpose by Edward
Vaughan Esquire, and Oakley Leigh, gent., they having certified
that the work hath been accordingly done.

Here is an interesting item with reference to the care of the
King's highway. The date is Michaelmas, 1765 : —

The road at Pen-y-bont parish Llanwenog, being washed away
by the violence of the floods, so that it could not possibly be
repaired., without purchasing some lands adjoining property of
Jeremiah Lloyd, County Coroner. Ordered that the Jury sworn
at this Q.S. forthwith go upon the spot, inspect same, and portion
out as much land as shall be sufficient, and make an estimate
of the value, and present same to the county, that the land may be
accordingly bought.

That adherents to the Roman Church met with little love at
the hands of our magistrates, in 1745, would seem to be evident
from this entry — be it noted that the charge is only one of
vagrancy : —

David Williams, a vagrant and a Roman Catholic, committed
to the House of Correction by Thos. Johnes Esquire, and now
brought before this Court, and examined, remanded into the House
of Correction, there to remain until the adjournment of this Cpurt,
and further order to the contrary.

The entries as to punishments are of a varied, and more or
less brutal, character. The following one is of value, showing
that, in 1754, it was one of the duties of the keeper of the

53

Lampeter house of correction, or lock-up, to tie his prisoners to
the public whipping post, when ordered, and there flog them : —

Thomas John, of Llanddewy Brefi, having been at this present
Q.S. try'd and fmnd guilty for feloniously stealing and taking
from James Bees, a pair of shoes, and a pair of buckles, order d
that he be stripped naked from the waist upwards, and imme-
diately whipped by the Master of the House of Correction, being
first tyed to the whipping post in the town of Lampeter ; until his
body be bloody.

The post stood by the stocks just opposite to the " Black Lion,"
on the other side of the street ; the front wall of the present
Town Hall probably marks the site.

Peterwell, according to the fire-side legends of the county,
was often used as a court of justice — (save the word) — when
Sir Herbert had a grudge or a pique against the unfortunate
prisoner. The next quotation confirms the old stories in some
degree. In 1762 the county treasurer was

Ordered to pay Charles David, gaoler % 20s, for bringing
Margaret Williams to Peterwell to be examined, touching the
murder of the wife of one Thomas John.

Lampeter must have been excited over an infant murder one
winter day, for, at the Epiphany Quarter Sessions, 1773, an
order is made upon the treasurer

To pay Henry Jones, of Lampeter, gent, 19s. being money by
him laid out in apprehending two women, suspected guilty of mur-
dering an infant, found dead near the river Teify in the parish of
Lampeter Pont Stephan.

The county funds were used for many purposes, amongst
others for paying the costs of conveying vagrants by pass to
their respective parishes, and for taking prisoners to the
hulks : —

Easter 1780. Daniel Evans, petty constable of Lampeter P. S.
paid 18s. for his costs and charges in conveying two vagrants from
Lampeter Parish to Llanbadarn-fawr, and Kilkennen parishes.

Epiphany, 1782. Treasurer to pay £20 3s. 6d. to David
Lloyd, High Sheriff, for conveying David Evan Daniel, a felon to
one of the Hulks on the River Thames, for hard labour, pursuant
to his sentence.

54

David Lloyd (p. 41) upon whom fell this duty, was of Allt-
yrodyn, great-great-grandson of David Lloyd, of the same place,
the high sheriff for 1668, a warm Royalist, who had been
declared a delinquent in 1638, and had his property sequestered,
for which his son afterwards compounded.

One entry of the proceedings of the Easter Quarter Sessions,
1773, stands unique, and is worthy of notice, referring as it does
to certain trade customs of the period : —

Upon the further hearing of the appeal of David William of
the parish of Lampeter P. S., farmer, against the adjudication of
Henry Jones, and Edward Vaughan, Esquires, and it being duly
pvved that David William, as occupying the trade or business of
farmer, had incurred the penalty of £20, by not making true
entries with the proper officer of the number and quality of hides
and skins taken by him out of the Wooze to be dried, and that
Henry Jones, and Edward Vaughan Esquires had mitigated the
penalty to £5, ordered that their adjudication be affirmed, and
that a wan ant be issued for levying the sum of £5 and likewise
the sum of 20s. ; being the officer's charges attending the adjudica-
tion, by distress and sale of the goods of David William, in
pursuance of an Act of Parliament in that case made and
provided.

t m
The registration of meeting-houses for nonconforming worship

had formerly to be done at Quarter Sessions. One such in the

records refers to a congregation near Lampeter : —

Michaelmas, 1791. On the motion of Mr. Lewis Rogers, or-
dered that a certain house called Cribyn Bettws,* in the parish of
Llanfihangel Ystrad be registered as a Meeting-house for the con-
gregation of Protestant Dissenters.

* This congregation is now Unitarian. Its succession of ministers is probably : —

Evan Davies, Caeronen? .. .. — d. 1817

Arthur Williams, supply

David Davies, MaespwU

Thomas J. Griffiths (Tau Gimel) . . 1822 — 1841

Daniel Evans . . . . . . 1841

Thomas Emlyn Thomas . . . . 184[2] — 1846

Peter Joseph .. .. .. 1847 — 1853

John Jeremy, supply .. . . 1853 — 1858

Thomas J. Griffiths (Tau Gimel) .. 1858 — 1868 ?

Rees Cribin Jones . . . . 1871 — 1877

David Evans, B. A. .. .. 1877 — 1882

William Eynon Davies . . . . 1883 — 1886

David Evans .. .. .. 1886 — 1905 —

55

The county of Cardigan has no possession of greater historical
value to-day than the series of its Quarter Sessions Records —
intact, carefully written, and strongly bound, as they fortunately
are, from 1738. Far too little use is made of them by writers
who seek to tell parish history, or secure a prize offered at an
eisteddfod for such an attempt. It is seldom one finds any refer-
ence to these volumes in such essays, and equally as seldom that
we hear of any judges expressing their surprise that such mines
of original matter are left unquarried by those on whose pro-
ductions they have to adjudicate.

Ihe garish (Ehnrxh.

What do we know of the parish church which was pulled down
about the year 1821 ? No description of it seems to be extant,
and so it is necessary to rebuild it in writing, using for the
materials of such reconstruction various references to it which
are contained in the Registers and Vestry Book, and certain
scattered notes in divers places.

The earliest reference to Lampeter Church is probably in the
Taxation of Pope Nicholas, about the year 1291, in the reign of
King Edward I. . Here, under the head of the Archdeaconry of
Cardigan and the Deanery of Sub Ayron, the entry,

gccCesia be $,ampebe t £&,

occurs immediately after a note on the church of Llanddewi
Brefi. We know from what Giraldus says that he and Arch-
bishop Baldwin both passed a night, in 1188, at Pons Stephani
— (note the absence of the prefix in this place name) — on their
way from Cardigan to Strata Florida Abbey ; and that on the
morrow the archbishop, the archdeacon, and the abbots of Whit-
land and Strata Florida, delivered addresses at Pons Stephani —
(here note the absence of allusion to any church building). In
the year 1317, King Edward II. makes a certain grant to Rhys
ap Griffith, and here we get the name,

LLANPEDER TALPONT ESTEPHENE.

I agree with Mr. R. W. Banks in thinking that Talybont or
Pont Stephan was the original name of the town, and that the
prefix of Lampeter was added as a distinctive one after the
erection of a church here. Further, I think we may conclude
that a church was erected here between the years 1188, when
Giraldus omits reference to any such building, and 1291, when
Pope Nicholas distinctly alludes to the church of Lampeter — in
other words, the building was a thirteenth century one.

Bishop Basil Jones had been told that the church razed was
" a Norman one, consisting of a nave and chancel, with a single
aisle throughout its length." He, however, rather doubted the

57

building being a Norman one, and was only able to recall one bit
of true Norman work in south-western Wales, viz., the fine chancel
arch at St. Clears. It is just possible that the thirteenth century
building did survive to the nineteenth, especially when we know
that in the year # 1724 the sum of £2 1 Is. 2d. was assessed towards
Repairs of ye church, and that £2 10s. 7d. was the amount ex-
pended on such repairs, the account being settVd 11 May, 1725
att a publick meeting of ye pishners, by Eras. Lewes, vicar, Da. Janes
of Newadd, Evan Thos, of Moelfrey, Thos. Lewis, Morgn. Evan Thos.,
Lod. ffrancis, Dd. Wm. ffrancis, and Da. Evan Grifith, Cwmmerthio
a lys. The account was submitted to the meeting by Evan Da. of
Llettytwppa, and Ion. Evan, of Hen [gone], churchwardens.

For the next fifty years the vestry proceedings are missing,
and it is not till 1777 that we get any further reference to the
structure. Fortunately, however, a few particulars of the church
life and doings of this parish can be gleaned from scattered
entries in the Register Book, bought at the expence of the parish in
the year 1746 ; John Phillipps, Vicar, Morgan Thomas, and Evan
Morgan, being Churchwardens, and Thomas Williams, Curate.

On the 23rd February, 1744-5 (that is 1745 modern reckoning),
Vicar Erasmus Lewes was buried. He had been collated on the
17th December, 1695, but it was not until the Easter Court
Leet of 1742 that he was admitted a burgess of the town, in
company with Walter and John Lloyd, Esquires.

Oakley Leigh at this time played a prominent part in parish
matters. He was churchwarden in 1753, portreeve in 1757-8
and 1767-8, and busy in Quarter Sessions, being frequently
described as Gent. The registers have also some facts recorded
about him, as when, on the 15th January, 1766, there were
baptized David and Jemima, being Twins, the reputed children of
Oakley Leigh, by Mary Price; and also on the 28th, 7ber. 1778.
Biidgard the bastard dau. of Oakley Leigh, upon the Body of Anne,
the dau. of Dd. TIios Lewis. The sweetest entry about him is that
on the 21st December, 1788, Mr. Oakley Leigh, of Brongest, bury'd.

The church had two painted doors, one faced south ; windows
— one known as the south window — glazed and wired, with shut-
ters on the outside ; the whole building, without and within,
was periodically whitewashed ; the tiled roof frequently needed
mending; and, in 1798, the steeple is ordered to be repaired; in
it swung the bell, stamped,

E. E. 1121,
8

5S

r / aU beir.g tht*«' '»f Evan K\ans, of Chepstow, a l>c*i
■: : v r. who also oast, the, lhre< at l 1 aio.
•r; r'.!i*rior was fitted with benches, and alas! with p»\)
.»-.e-'» »' b. -\^ *»r pews: we heai of the Penyp'ntiprm >caL «*
t ....<'» • !*. Imur.d's wrv i» \ and of //v/*'< seat. The font was «..
-.= ■«♦*, '..•;.., ,f» jw to approaeh it. This font was remove! >n 1M"'
: h. -.• • iiu-'-M.rur, and can he seen by Lampeter folk* lo-da^
i. » ^ . <i \uit« '• .inscribes ih« church as " probably the worst • ■
: 'Ih- »..-.ri.-u "more ugly than the ie^t, and yet, tho' •.

• • • . . «•«>» ■ -lnii.g a jewel. The font, much mutilated by th»

'.»'.■• r.j "i ^ "'\es of many generations of men, when it iw-.
• j th«. churchyard, is a square basin, perhaps of i!:<
;. vnte.*. (.n a circular shaft, with emblems of the E*a*-
. \*t> »| ••»>-♦.!, the lion, the ox, and the eagle — at the fou.
.■i . v wo ked ; but one of the most interesting ren«'s « :
•„ :J »: V .Jos possess* s. This is worthy of careful pr«
.'V- to? the building itself, it. is a public e\ r e*oi«
.< .• - •.,« total demolition.' 7 These words come to us with th-
• -!\ of thi- J"hu>oloiii'i Catitbrertsw (1861, p. 312). Thi-
« •■ ■' "d Norman relic now rests in the chapel of St. Ma;,.
: u .i ^ery far distant from its original site. The em
•■•.-• \ ; he ;o^el, the lion, the ox, and the eagle, are, in uiuel.
.? » i» v • \mgs, a* sharp and as fresh as when the unknown
•...•* 1 tIiimii to the glory of God. The outer ciieuiii-

• - • t i \\w i.„s,ou i^ eighty-five inches, in diametu* it is

• tint .fie- 1/unpcter has far too few treasures in its

' ■•:.«! t! < »\ »• • would venture to suggest the propriety of

• . h •(>*■•-. -u ;, '> fom to its iightful place of honour r\

. * J > t .• ' -md of erecting the new one in M.»es«!ir

v ^ ;.\ • , M the daughter adorn herself with h-v

• .- ^ > '" : • l u],< t her mother yet liv s ] Doubtless there
-ii ! .< a -'i h < f parishioners anxious Jo have the hnnou 1 * of

•r . • : -' t •" Wick. Once there, it should be carefuliy lined
i . • in the metal, deeply cut round the flat edge, so

• .'. v ot 4 -j. the sione, might be placed this inscription :- -

w : - it, fovmerfn in tfte pariv.6 c§urcf> talken

- ..-»• ^**oiit 1821, was tfyen tvan&fcvxeb to if» ouc-

. •-. :^\»— 1S(>7; next ptaceb in Jttaeo&tr (Sf?apcf

;i t*.t..o. 1S80; aixb in 1905, 6roitt]t>t Dacft to tftiv.

niviu!> iluirc^ of ^ampcter, duvtix^ tr)c vicariate of

^ooit, ^otoBop of p*x*an«oca.*"

on Parish Font.

58

the initials being those of Evan Evans, of Chepstow, a bell
founder, who also cast the three at Caio.

The interior was fitted with benches, and alas ! with pro- '
prietary boxes or pews ; we hear of the Penypompren seat, of
Charles Edmund's new pew y and of Dole's seat. The font was of
stone, with steps to approach it. This font was removed in 1822
to the next building, and can be seen by Lampeter folks to-day.
In 1861 a writer describes the church as " probably the worst of
any " in the district, " more ugly than the rest, and yet, tho' a
poor case, containing a jewel. The font, much mutilated by the
sharpening of knives of many generations of men, when it used
to lie in the churchyard, is a square basin, perhaps of the
twelfth century, on a circular shaft, with emblems of the Evan-
gelists — the angel, the lion, the ox, and the eagle — at the four-
corners, rudely worked ; but one of the most interesting relics of
early art that Wales possesses. This is worthy of careful pre-
servation. As for the building itself, it is a public eyesore,
it demands total demolition." These words come to us with the
authority of the Archceologia Cambrensis (1861, p. 312). This
undoubted Norman relic now rests in the chapel of St. Mary,
Maesdir, not very far distant from its original site. The em-
blems of the angel, the lion, the ox, and the eagle, are, in much
of their workings, as sharp and as fresh as when the unknown
artist carved them to the glory of God. The outer circum-
ference of the bason is eighty-five inches, in diameter it is
twenty -three inches. Lampeter has far too few treasures in its
midst, and the writer would venture to suggest the propriety of
forthwith restoring this font to its rightful place of honour in
the parish church, and of erecting the new one in Maesdir
chapel. Why should the daughter adorn herself with her
mother's jewels whilst her mother yet lives ? Doubtless there
would be a rush of parishioners anxious to have the honour of
carting the font back. Once there, it should be carefully lined
with lead, and in the metal, deeply cut round the flat edge, so
as not to touch the stone, might be placed this inscription : —
'"gj^is font, fovmextt? in tfye parish c§urc§ ta&en
boxvn about 1821, u>as tfyen transferred to its suc=
cessor, 1822—1867; next ptaceb m gffaesoir Qfyapet
of gase, 1880; anb in 1905, Brought back to t$is
parisl? c§urc§ of Jtatnpeter, during tfye vicariate of
&o$n, ^3is$op of Jwans^a."

Emblems on

5S

■»••» . .

i-'.';ii< ^ : ■ •• - <•!* Ev.-Hi J' »ans, of Chep^f-v , i
i •■• «m-- ■':•.; hr-'t .*-' i.aio.
\ •«■< fi : : • .'f I w:\\ *>enehes, and aku ! v .'.
1^ ^- , \» c v he..i «»t the Penyp'ittip.t e
.-\ . : '•• ; " ". >.n-1 »f f>'>>' : < wat. The fur - ..
t »• ••" .'..••'».' K it. I'his font was iemo\ %) " '

■ i ' : ' \ ;...J -nu iif seen bv Lampeter fo;i- ■, m.u-
w i .•■ • : .».>ts . ' • cliurch a* " piobably the \%- »>>*

" \x*t*'\ nv\y than "\im re^t, .aid vt-{, U.
« i • > ' ^ *i j«*v t* 1 The font, ujuch mutiKte<t by «' •

: * ; ■ •- of !•' i •'».• ^r- t >. ;;i»i<.Ms of inert, wi"»n v .
* ?e tchv.o-.i, i> a » v pi:t T - basin, perh«i**» of

. it ;• *in-!s : «• >!»ai;, w.Ui emblem.? of the K
• * • '• ♦• 1 t hi* l'» •, ne ox, ;in<l the ea^le — at. the T." •

i ] : hir • •«» of r*w most in'erestiig iv -

..- ' ;.-•:«■ -»-- - j'hi> is worthy of careful j. .
•." '" •!•*• !•>. *... . * r -* If. it. is a pu'ibe eye- .■
*'W".i .!"ii ".:i.oh. i'neso, v«>rds com** to u^ with '
r\ -j rh. J.. i.:>!.>>: r-'.-'^^w (1861, p. 31*2). P
'•<{ NutiiK'ii i\Iic tK"» i'ni.s m 'he chapel of St. M:.

n-/i ^rtv far dist i-u *:»>.: : ^ »H^ina) site. Tht< i-r
i :h** •»•• :^1, the liov, il-- ox, »>».] the eagle, are, in n. .-
• '•' • \" _-, «\* sh.np iuid <-*s J v-h as when the unkri* * <
•»'• . •'■:•«,» <■-» ti»M irlnrv ,t *i,«d. The outer eiim.
■ 'if ;].• . ■>! !i '. eij;hi* -:»v».' n>< i: ^ in • bame!* r it .
thn- • ♦•» I,unpet«r ha* fir f no few treasures lr« \>
.* . and !l.« *. w<»:i<l vcntim- ,♦> sii^e.^ the j>roprir.tv •:'

•::.»•. ih m.>?' .'\ :, t^ fo':» to its i i c ••»;.' <i place ot hotionr .
• i ;"i.i->h eh •«?:.! -,\ erecting ti'-- »it*H one in A!.'e^»

■*.. : ^'. l i\ • *he. dan^htor adoi n herself with L< .

•'Viii'!'.- iew«»:^ i ■«.,. :•••; Mioiher vet li\ • .' Doubtless tV'iv
'.•*ald be a t »* - h . ; irj*hioners anxiou- '»> have the honou** n.«
> .rtn,'' tie fo*«« ' ••,. *• « *!:,'e theie, it ^tvul'l be earefuliv i-rn-i;
"Kh ;« ai, r.nit n ■•.! '•;!, dee])Jv* t'*.? iv«*»id the flat v-Jsie. s<

-••s not t<j ton-} * »;• • r^i^ht !»e p!;:ced this insoripti< n :-

** v^i^to f,>nt, ' r .-i ■ • *-n •.-■» !^i tbe pavivB cl)urcB taUcu
?<->iv*\ oboul <>."J!, »m,-.«\ Wen tva n^tVvveS to tfsv one
v.^ucv. tS-J - t- /«. ..,.\tt pl'aco^ in 3rt,iett£»ir (^Bapol*
of jfii'-to, t^-<<>, ai».' *,x 1V)05, Brought bacfi to UM\
part&b ii : .*nl : ! .r s. a ; ^o 4 .n\ 6itvui^ tbo incartaV ot

« i

Emblems on Pari

!THE N - \v " „, ;'.

PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTON, LENOX AND
TILDEN FOUNDATIONS.

59

We read of a reading desk joyning the pulpit; as also of the
church chest ; and, in 1779, of one dozen crests 8s. bought at Car-
marthen, and of sixpence being paid for their carriage to Lam-
peter. These items appear in the Disbursements of Evan Jenkins,
and Da. Dairies, ch. wardens, in the reparation of the Church, so
there is no doubt about their being for the building. What
were they ? Hatchments would surely cost more than three
pence apiece, and it is hardly likely that a dozen would be
wanted at one time.

The churchyard was walled, and from its gate the road led to
the Vicarage's House, which, straw-thatched, whitewashed, and
quaintly gabled, stood opposite to the present school buildings.
Many persons were interred in the church — from the chancel
was the approach to the Peterwell vault — and in 1783 the vestry
settled not to suffer any to bury in the body of the churdh, especially
those that does not pay taxes. In 1779 a new bier for the burying of
children was ordered, and other instruments belonging to ye digging
of Graves to be properly repaired. In 1796 a new dial was needed.

That this building was a very old one is certain from the
constant necessity of repairing the roof. One of the first things
to which Curate William Williams had to attend was that of
arranging, in 1777, with Jenkin the mason to point roof of church,
every part that lies deficient of pointing at 2d. per yard. In 1779
occurs the item of 6s. 6d. for repairing the Church's roof twice, and
Is. for 100 slates for repairing the Church. In 1798, the church-
wardens received injunction from the Rev. Mr. Bowen, Rural Dean
of this Deanery, to put the church in proper repair, early in the spring,
and as soon as the weather will permit, there being included the
order to paint the roof and outside of the walls.

The faculties for the building of private pews are worthy of
notice. All applications for such had to come, in the first place,
before the vestry — hence the entry, in 1778, Consented that James
Morgan is to erect a suitable seat, at the place belonging to Pen-y-pom-
pren in the Parish Church. Next came the application to the
Bishop's Court, the result being a structure, which, like a free-
hold house, the owner could lock up in his absence, and devise
by will, with his best hat and feather bed, to whomsoever he
pleased. Take the case of Charles Edmunds, who was one of
the wardens in 1787. A few weeks before his election as such,
he went to the vestry with his application to set up a seat. The
vestry, meeting at the " Black Lion," allows him to erect a new

60

pew, and to be presnted to the Bishop's Court as soon as convenience
suits. The pew or seat is to be faced close to the seat belonging to Pen
if pompren and also to the pillar between that and the south door of the
Parish Church of Lampr. Not only were seats allowed to be built
up in the church, but, if your family increased, or for any other
reason an owner desired to add a wing to his pew, he also could
be accommodated by the vestry ! Witness this, at Easter, 1797,
when the parishioners were foregathered in the " Nag's Head,"
D. J. Jenkins urges upon them the need he feels of more sitting
accommodation for him and his in the church, and the com-
plaisant vestry forthwith permits him to extend his pew adjoining
the present one.

What is now left to the parishioners of the furnishings and
adornments of their old church ?

The font bason, circa 1250.
The Registers, beginning 1695.

The "Empyreal sky" tablet to David Lloyd, died 1696.
(This and others are now " skyed" in the church porch.)

The Vestry Books, beginning 1705.
TheE. E. bell, dated 1721.

The silver Communion cup, given by Anne, second wife
of Sir Herbert Lloyd, Peter well, 1751.

Of the 1822 — 1867 church, there survives the gilded and
coloured sun-dial, dated 1822, in the possession of Mr. William
Davies, bursary clerk ; and, until a short time back, the rails
which "fenced" the communion table might have been seen
adorning the front of a house in High Street.

Before we leave the old church, let us take a look at a few
more entries in its Vestry Book and Registers, for such often
throw light upon parish doings.

Moses Morgan kept the "Green Dragon" Inn, and died in
office as one of the churchwardens in September, 1780, when
Chelton Leigh was appointed to serve out his time to the Easter
following. Moses, by his will, ordered to the poor of this parish
£3 3s. Od., which sum was distributed by Wm. Richard, churchwarden
to the applicators in the presence of Mr. Williams, Curate, and Mr.
Dd. Davies, mercer, on the 13th day of September 1786. About
sixty poor folks got one shilling apiece, the only item of especial
interest being —

Jane Evan John, widow, of the Abbey, Is.

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60

' ; *o h*' pi'-.hj-d to the Bi*u>p& Court as soon as mn^nir/r ,

• he fn'iv or scat U to be rised done, to ths seat belonging to !''■>•

: <> uiul aha to the pi'lur between tluit and thr south door of th>-

• * ' : iinrh f*f lAinipr. Not only were seats allowed to be buiir

. *he church, hut, if your family increase!, or for any other

•••• "i an own-r desired to add a wing to his pew, he also couS<!

.. :\* ommodj'ted l>v the vestrv ! Witness this, at "Raster, 1797.

tu »» the parishioinrs were foregathered in the " ^ag'Vi Head,

J). ,!. J-;i!:in< m^es upon them the need he feels of more siHing

.irconniit»datiou lor him and his in the church, and the com

jnai>atu vestry forthwith permits him !o extend his pew adjoit, </

'/>" p> t'o'itt on--.

\\ hat is now left to the. parishioners of the furnishings and
adornments of thf.r old church ?

Th«- foT.t bason, circa 1230.

The Registers, h«\; ; uning 1095.

The "Empvrea! <ky ' tablet to David Lloyd, died 1696.

(This and oP • ••-* are now " skye«l " in the church porch. )

The Vestrv Hooks, beginning 17'J.">.
The K 1. •-II, dated 1721.

Tn»- ^'!- '» \ ommunion cup, given by Anne, second wife
of S:i J, i<ri Lioyd, Peterwell, 1751.

Of :]..- »*• . 1867 church, there survives the gilded. ani
rc'f,-* ' «ji.«l, dated 1822, in the possession, of Mr. William

I . \,-^ v»y clerk; and, until a short time back, the rails

vhi ! .eed" the communion table might have been se«v

••■ ' - ' •_ . .ie front of a house in Hi I'll Street.

!•.:• ' we ha\e the old church, let us take a look at a few
lie.' juries in it-. Vestry Book and Registers, for sueh often
t} nw light upon parish doings.

\b .es Morgan kept the "Green Dragon'' Inn, and died 'm
olhee as one of the churchwardens in September, 17?<0, tvh • •
C'helum Leigh was apj >oinfed to serve out his time to the Ka*ier
fr«li..\. '»ig. Mo>es, by his will, vrdwd to the /">"/' >>f f f ns pari-''
± '. .. • l ' 1 .. iih'.n sum /as distributed by IF in. Jiirhard } <'hurehion<: r>
/.-. /'.. ' : -raters in th prr^ net of Mr. IJllliants, Curate, and. Mr.
/'• . ' \ mrr' , cr, tot the, frith da// of Sej/fnnbtr 7/\sV>. About
m folks got one shilling apiece, the only item of especial

\- , ,. ;ng—

'w.' k'r-tiri John, widod\ oft la Abb''n, Is.

\r

THE Ni-.'V ? ;

PUBLIC LI£RAK\

ASTOK, LENOX AMD
TILDEN FC'.'\D^T!^NS.

61

On the 1st April, 1765, was baptized Ann, daughter of Thomas
and Ann Mareshall, an English Groom at Peterwell.
In 1788 are two entries for one girl's baptisms : —

Unpd. Baptized p. a Dissenting, Minister, Catherine, dau. of
Tho. Morgan, of Cwmjago, 11th February,

Three days afterwards we read : —

Baptized Hth February Catherine, dau. of Tho. Morgan, of
Cwmjago.

On the 13th April, 1795, was buried the body of David Hugh
Lends, which was found drowned in Teify ; and it was supposed that
he hid put a period to his existence, and yt. intentionally, and con-
sequently had not the Benefit of Clergy, etc.

In the same year, on the 21st November, David Davies was
buried. He died at Carmarthen where he was in school with Mr.
Barker* and Ms corpse was brought up from there in a Hearse, and
interred here at Lampeter, aged 22 years.

The "Black Lion" was for many years in the eighteenth
century kept by Thomas Williams, who, in. January, 1800, was
suddenly taken ill with a fit of apoplexy abt. 2 o } clock in the evening,
and died abt 6 o'clock the following morning ; it was a loud call, arid
great admonisht. to this neighbourhood. A hearty, healthy man dying
.so sudden, aged SI years.

John Leigh, junr., was the younger of two natural sons, of
that name, of Oakley Leigh, who by his will bequeathed him
twenty pounds, and to be kept at school two years by my executor, and
eldest natural son John Leigh, who also is to allow him one pound,
and five shillings a year (being the interest of the money I have paid
the Trustees of the Carmarthen District of Turnpike hoods), till he
attains his one and twentieth year. This lad lived twenty-eight
years, and then came to an untimely end. He perished in the
snow on Llancrwys mountain, in coming over from Kilcwm to his

* Rev. William Higgs Barker, M.A. (1743—1816), vicar of Caermarthen, 1796—1816 ;
master of the Endowed Grammar School, 1767—1796; domestic chaplain to Bishops
William Stuart, George Murray, and Thos. Burgess ; compiler of "A Hebrew Grammar"
surd "A Hebrew Lexicon." Some time during the Short Peace, Lord Nelson, accompanied by
Lady Hamilton, visited Carmarthen. The Mayor and Corporation requested my father to
accompany tJiem and be present when an address was presented to that hero. "No," said
my father, "1 cannot wait upon Lady Hamilton. To Lord Nelson personally I would
cheerfully pay every respect personally, but I dare not countenance adultery" He was
idamed at the time by many, but his own mind told him that he acted properly. — MS.
Memoir of Rev. W. H. Barker, by his son, the Rev. John Crawford Barker, rector of
St. George's, Grenada, W.I., 1838, penes Thomas William Barker, Esq., Caermarthen,
secretary and registrar to the Bishop of St. David's, as was his father, John Hoyes
Barker (d. 1904).

62

mother at Kellan, and was unfound for 5 weeks. His body was
buried on the 13th February, 1802, in the parish churchyard.

What was the aspect of Lampeter street on a Sunday just one
hundred years ago ? The answer is to be found in a valuable
manuscript volume, owned by Mr. J. H. Da vies, of Cwrtmawr.
It is the graphic account by " W.S " — probably William Sandys,
whose book-plate is affixed to the inner front cover — of his
" Walk through South Wales, in October \ 1819" He and his com-
panion left Lampeter on a Sunday, 17th Oct., consequently had the
satisfaction of encountering the inquisitive glances of the Welch Belles
and Beaux to a degree that would have gratified the most eager can-
didate for popular admiration. We enjoyed the " digito monstrari " to
its utmost extent, even "the dogs barked at us as we passed the street."
However, we dared the ordeal, and one of us was even bold enough
to return back alone, through the town, to recover an umbrella left
behind at the inn [the " Star "], an article that cannot well be spared
in this "pluvoise " country.

§krme of it* IBicara.

Turning now from the church building and fixtures, it is
instructive to see something, if haply we can, of the lives of
some men who played their parts as ministers of the church and
the parish.

An early vicar's name is that of Morgan Vaughan, in 1535,
which is preserved in " Valor Ecclesiasticus," where we read : —

Llanbeder

Vicaria ibidem ex collacione Episcopi Menevensis
unde Morganus Vichan est vicarius et valet
vicaria communibus annis «£vj. xiij.s. iiij.d.

Inde decima xiij.s. iiij.d.

*1662. Rice Powell.

[Ejected ; afterwards conformed. ]

1662, Aug. 25. Erasmus Evans, M.A.

[Removed to Burton, co. Pembroke.]

1668. Richard Powell.

[Was this the ejected of 1662 ?]

1695, Dec. 17. Erasmus Lewes, B.A.

[Collated to both Lampeter and Bettws Bledrws, ac-
cording to The MS. Diocese Book, 1715. The
Episcopal Act Books have gaps about this date.]

1743, Nov. 12. John Phillipps.

[Collated to both parishes on resignation of Erasmus
Lewes. ]

1767, Dec. 7. Thomas Davies.

[On d. of John Phillipps.]

1777, May 12. John Lewes Phillipps, M.A.

[On d. of Thomas Davies. ]

* It is with peculiar pleasure that I here acknowledge indebtedness to our able
Diocesan Registrar, Mr. Thos. Wm. Barker. This help calls up memories of the long
ago, when, as boys at Caermarthen, many things were held in common. He, and Mr.
Walter Spurrell, and Principal Evans, to name but a few of us, can tell stories of early
bird-nesting and nut-hunting at Ystrad, where the well-remembered sign, " Man traps
and spring guns are set in these woods," added zest to our trespassing.— G.E.E.

64
1795, July 11. William Williams.

[On d. of John Lewes Phillipps.]

1805, July 13. Eliezer Williams, M.A.

[On d. of William Williams.]

1820, April 12. John Williams, M.A.

[On d. of Eliezer Williams ; at date of collation he
was B.A.]

1833, Oct. 15. Llewelyn Lewellin, D.C.L.

[On resignation of John Williams.]

1879, Jan. 31. Daniel Jones, M.A.

[On d. of Llewelyn Lewellin.

1903, Sep. $0. John Lloyd, D.D., Bishop Suffragan of Swan-
sea.

[On cession (or, strictly speaking, on resignation) of
Daniel Jones to Chancellor of St. David's Cathe-
dral]

The Bishop of the Diocese is patron of Lampeter, in right of
his see.

Rice Powel is named by Calamy, under Llanbeder, in Car-
diganshire, as one of the ejected ministers in 1662, who "after-
wards conformed." Dr. Rees, in his " Nonconformity in Wales,"
mentions him when speaking of Morgan Howell, the eminent
preacher and teaching elder in the nonconforming congregations
of Cilgwyn, Caeronen, and Crug-y-maen, who "joined the Con-
gregational Church in Cardiganshire, then under the pastoral

care of Mr. Rees Powell, of Lampeter, in February, 1654

Mr. Rees Powell, of Lampeter, Mr. Roderick Da vies, of Llan-
llwch-haiarn, and Mr. Thomas Evans, of Ystrad, were for some
time deprived of their livings, but afterwards conformed." 1
have not met with his name in any references other than these
quoted. It is possible that he was the Richard Powell who, in
1668, succeeded Erasmus Evans as minister of the parish.

Erasmus Evans, M.A. He was the youngest child of David
Evans, Esq., who bought the land at Peterwell and built the
first mansion there, his mother being Mary, daughter of John
Lloyd Jenkin, of Blaenhiroth, in the parish of Llangennech,
county of Caermarthen.

Erasmus Lewes, B.A., was collated vicar of Lampeter and
rector of Bettws Bledrws on the 17th December, 1695. He

65

might have been doing duty in the parish for a few months
before his collation, as his is the hand which began to write the
present earliest parish register, which opens with a record of
burial on the 3rd May in that year; though, as the first few
entries are not in chronological sequence, it is quite likely that,
finding no register here, he promptly began this one with entries
furnished by the sexton.

His great-grandfather was the Rev. Thomas Lloyd, treasurer
of the Cathedral Church of St. David's, whose half-recumbent
figure is portrayed in cassock, gown, and hood, with a book in
the left hand, on an altar tomb, with Cinquecento work canopy,
in the eastern arch of the Cathedral. Treasurer Lloyd's daughter
Lettice married Thomas Lewes, of Gernos, Esq., and of their son
John, Vicar Erasmus was the sixth and youngest child, as we
learn from his memorial tablet, now skied in the porch, whereas
it ought to be in a like readable position in the present church
as it was in its predecessor. Educated at Jesus College, Oxford,
where he matriculated on the 22nd February, 1683-4, at the age
of 20, taking his B.A. in 1688, he received priest's orders on the
21st September, 1690, at the hands of the Bishop of Winchester.
He was "perhaps vicar of Roch Castle, 1692, and of Brawdy, co.
Pembroke, 1694."

As we have previously seen, the earliest parish document now
extant is The Account of the overseers of the poor, beginning in the
year 1705, and from these precious pages we find Vicar Lewes
frequently and rightly presiding at "a publick meeting of
ye parishers." The registers, too, bear their evidence to his
sense of order and his desire not to omit any details of im-
portance, even to recording a baptism, in 1696, by his near
neighbour, David Roberts, a Presbyterian preacher — the minister of
Cilgwyn, where the congregation numbered 1,000 hearers, and
amongst them twenty county voters. High and lowly ranks get
his notice: now it is the lady of Peterwell, on the next page a
poor pensioner. He notes the burials of a wandering beggar yti
dyed on the rode ; of a man who dyed at Lampeter, on his way home ;
of a mother and daughter killed by a wall yt. fell upon ym. in ye
night time ; of the son of David Howel, who dyed at Lampeter mill
of ye small pox, and was carried to Llanwnen to be burryed ; and of a
boy killed by lightning ye day before [29th June] at Lampeter fair.

His registers tell us that in 1696 David John was ye clerk;
that one Evan of Llanrhystyd parish, in 1700, dyed a prisoner in
o

66

Llaribedr gaol; that, in 1720, one David Rees lived by ye great mill;
and how that, in 1722, he buried Wm. Glandynin a Scottish ffidler.
We know who were his sextons, who held the office of excise in
the town, who were reputed parents, and that in 1732 John
Morris Hopkyn of ye psh. of Llanbadarnfawr dyd at Lampeter on his
way home from Hereford Assizes.

The ravages of small-pox are noted ; so, too, the important
fact that, in 1731, Anne Walter of ye town, widow, was buried in
coffin; and that from the 8th July in that year as many as have a
ink under the names were buried in coffins. Richard Jenkins, agent
at Peterwell, and Elizabeth, wife of Richard ye taylor of ye town,
were both buried in a coffin in 1735, the last to be so described by
the careful vicar. In fact, we get more insight to Lampeter
people, where they lived, and what they did, for the period of
his vicariate, than we do for some years after his death.

He had a daughter named Lettis, who, according to her
father's entry in the register, in 1740, by license,

Marry'd Aprill ye ninth, Abell Gower of the parish of Kil-
gerran, in ye county of Pembroke.

Abell was one of the Gowers of Glandofan and Castell Mael-
gwyn, and, says the Rev. Wm. Edmunds in 1860, "the names of
Abel, Erasmus, and Lewes are frequent family names with the
Gowers."

He died, in his eighty -second year, on the 19th of February,
1744, and was buried on the 23rd, being described in the
register and on his tablet as Vicar of Lampeter SO years. He
resigned both his livings in 1743, and on the 12th of November
in that year his successor was collated to Lampeter and Bettws
Bledrws.

That Vicar Lewes was a scholar and poet, as well as a con-
scientious parish minister, is evident from the fact that he was
consulted by and assisted John Rhydderch, in the preparation of
his " English and Welsh Dictionary : or, the English before the
Welch," which was printed by Rhydderch at Salop in 1725. In
his Welsh preface to it Rhydderch says : —

I hope that this book will be of some interest and benefit
to the people of North and South Wales, because one of the
three manuscript dictionaries I mentioned above was com-
piled by the Rev. Mr. Erasmus Lewes, vicar of Llanbedr
Pont Stephan, from whose collection I trust you will find

67

in the leading words such as are used throughout South
Wales, and are strange to us in Gwynedd [North Wales] ;
to which he added many words from the collection of that
learned and diligent Brython, Mr. Edward Llwyd, A.M.

In a foot-note to his account of the dictionary in the " Cam-
brian Bibliography," p. 342, the Rev. Wm. Rowlands (Gwilym
Lleyn) alludes to a manuscript volume, "Briwswn o'r Brydydd-
iaeth Gh/mreig," as containing certain englynion composed by Vicar
Erasmus. These are given in " Gwyliedydd" ii., p. 347, and
from a copy of them this one is quoted : —

Gwell diwrnod fawr-elod i'r Arglwydd — deg Iesu,
Yn dy gysegr hylwydd ;
Na mil mewn chwant soniantowydd
Dan ystry w di-onestrwydd.

John Phillipps, the next vicar, was collated to Lampeter
and Bettws Bledrws on the 12th November, 1743. He was
ordained priest on the 11th May, 1735, by Nicholas Claggett,
the hundred-and-first Bishop of St. David's, who saw fit, on the
day following, to institute Phillipps as vicar of St. Clears and
its adjoining parish of Llanginning. On the 6th August, 1763,
his son, John Phillipps, junr., B.A., was licensed to Llanginning,
on the nomination of his father. It is probable that he was of
the family of Phillipps of Llwyncru, who hold the presentation
to St. Clears. In the year 1746, when he began to use the
register with two clasps, Thomas Williams was his curate, the
vicar probably being non-resident. His name does not occur in
the well-kept records of the Quarter Sessions, which begin in
1739, nor, other than on the title page, in the Parish Register,
nor yet in the Court Leet presentments.

Thomas Da vies was collated vicar of Lampeter on the 7 th
December, 1767, on the death of John Phillipps. There is no
appearance of his name as rector of Bettws Bledrws, nor would
there seem to be any further knowledge of him. Was, he a non-
resident vicar? On the 31st January, 1774, at the Court Leet
held in the house of John Morgan, portreeve, amongst those
presented burgesses was the Rev. Wm. Williams, curate of Lampeter,
of whom the first mention is made, in what appears to be his
own autograph, on the title page of the register — 28/d. February,
1772, Wm. Williams, Curate. The name of Vicar Davies is
entirely absent from all available local records, and wherever

68

it should naturally appear, we invariably get that of Curate
Williams active in all parish matters. He is at vestry meetings,
he makes interesting entries in the register, and, in August, 1779,
the S.P.G. addresses him as the Rev. W. Williams, Minister of
Lampeter Pont Stephen. All signs point to his being practically
vicar of the parish from 1772, and to his being the same William
Williams who was collated vicar on the 11th July, 1795, and
who was buried on the 6th March, 1805, Vicar of this Parish,
aged 62.

John Lewes Phillipps, M.A., was evidently another non-
resident vicar, collated on the 12th May, 1777. Of him and his
connection with Lampeter we have no further knowledge. He
may have been the son of Vicar John Phillipps, who as John
Phillipps, jr., B.A., had been licensed to Llanginning, in 1763, on
the nomination of his father.

William Williams has just been named ; all that we read of
him points to his being a man who lived and worked amongst
his own people. For some reason or another the year 1779 was
an unusually active one in church work in this parish. Curate
William Williams was then in the full swing of a busy life. He
never minced matters when making his entries in the parish
register, and we may be sure he was not the minister to be idle
and indolent. He was- interested in collecting money towards
relieving and supporting the distressed clergy, catechists, and school*
masters in foreign countries. In company with his wardens, David
Edwards, of the town, and John Thomas, of Gwarcoed, he goes
through the parish in July and August and collects the sum
of £2 2s. 0d., and then is careful to enter the list of donors
on the fly leaf of one of his books. It is probably the earliest
local list of its kind now available : —

John Adams t
Wm. Williams, CI. ...
Dd. Davies, mercer ...
Elizth. Philipps, Vicarage
Mr. Oakley Leigh, Brongast
David Evan, Abergranell
Rachel Davies, Maespwll

t Owner of Peterwell, s. of Elizabeth (sister to Sir Herbert Lloyd) by her marriage
with John Adams, of Whitland, co. Caermarthen ; M.P. for the borough of Caermarthen,
1774—1780.

£

8.

d.

1

1

2

6

2

6

...

2

6

1

1

6

69

Evan Griffith, Blaenplwyf
Wm. Thomas, Frwdyrhwyad
John Evan, Glandwylas
John Davies, Cappeli
Chelton Leigh, Swan Inn
Josiah Jones, Mazon
Griffith Davies, Currier
Mr. Owens, Officer of Excise
Charles Edmund, Town
Edw. Jenkins, sadler
Wm. Davies, Nag's Head
Dd. Edwards, Sadler
Jno. Francis, maltster
J as. Morgan, Penpompren

£ s. d.

• • • a • •

6

i

1

• • • • • •

6

■ • • • • •

1

• • • • • •

1

• • • • « •

6

• • • • • •

6

5

1

• • • • • •

1

• • • • • •

1

• • t • • •

1

• • • • • •

6

■ « • • • •

6

• « * • * •

1

Total £2

2

London, 31 Aug. 1779, Received of the Rev. Wm. Williams,
minister of Lampeter Pont Stephen, Cardiganshire, the sum of
£2 2s. Od., being so much collected on His Majesty's Letter in the
said palish for the use of the Society for the Propagation of the
Gospel in Foreign Parts. Wm. Morice, Secretary.

What had led up to this collection ? At a vestry held in
the house of Daniel Evans, on the 4th August, the curate, like
a wise man, had taken the parishioners into his confidence, and
after explaining the aims and objects of the Society, they thus
record their sentiments : — The parishioners in general are very
willing to contribute according to our abilities towards propagating the
Holy Gospel in foreign parts, as has been requested and proposed by
His Majesty, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Lord Bishop of St.
David's, and are fully satisfy d that the Plan is very laudable.

We have possibly a reference to the beginning of the Gram-
mar School in the minutes of a vestry held at the " Black Lion "
on the 22nd October, 1787, when it was ordered to have a school
ipened at this parish church for a limited time, untill such time as the
parishioners can occupy a convenient school-house for the keeping of the
.school. On the other hand it is quite likely that here we have
the first announcement of the starting of an elementary school,
as we call it now. Be that as it may, a year only had to elapse
before it was found that the pews of the parish church were

70

unsuitable for the purpose, and on the 16th December, 1788, the
vestry agrees that no school should be kept at Church, unless the
repairation is forthwith made up; and then the parishioners will
consider whether a school should be kept there or not? There is no
further entry as to whether or not the parishioners did consider.

Eliezer Williams, M.A., is separately dealt with in the
biographical chapters. He was brother to the Rev. Peter Bayley
Williams (d. 22nd November, 1837, aet. 70), rector of Llanrug
and Llanberis, a deputy lieutenant for Carnarvonshire, no mean
antiquary, and author of the " History of the Eryri Mountains "
and other topographical works. '

John Williams, M.A., has likewise especial notice. He was
non-resident for a portion of his incumbency. One of his old
Llandovery " boys," the Rev. David William Herbert, B. A., vicar
of Tremaen and Blaenporth, gave the writer divers interesting
reminiscences of the first warden of that noted school : he was
certainly one who won and retained his pupils' esteem and
veneration.

Llewelyn Lewellin, D.C.L., was vicar for forty-five years,
from 1833 to his death in November, 1878. He was the son of
Richard Lewellin, of Coity, county of Glamorgan, Esq. An
alumnus of Jesus College, Oxford, he matriculated on the 2nd
May, 1818, aged 19; was scholar, 1821-26; B.A., 1822; M.A.,
1824; B.C.L., 1827; D.C.L., 1829; and Master of the Schools,
Oxford, 1825-6. Appointed first principal of St. David's College,
at its opening in 1827; he presided over its destinies for fifty-one
years. Bishop Thirl wall made him Dean of St. David's in 1839.
From his diary, J 1860 — 1862, we get an idea of the apportion-
ment of time to his deanery, his parish, and his college : —

I860, 1 Jan.,
3 „

u „

8 „
18 „

At Aberayron.
Qr. Sessions.
Returned to Lampeter.
Preached in Chapel.
Arrived at St. David's.

31 „
2 Feb.,

Returned to Lampeter.
College met. Two entered.

15 March, Cluipter at St. David's.

18 „ Dr. Williams in Chapel. I preached at Warren

and St. Twynnells.

X Bought at a sale at Lampeter, in 1904, and now pene» me. — GXK.

71

I860, 28 March, Lloyd Daviei Funeral at Bangor.
29 „ Vacation commenced.
1 April) I in Church.
15 „ St. George's, Hanover Square.
22 „ All Saints, Margt. Street.

24 „ Slept at Gloster.

29 „ / in Church, Dr. Wms. in Chapel.

21 June, Examinations commenced.

2Jf „ Mr. Payne Smith, morn. ; Br. Wms., eveng.

26 „ Bp. of St. David's arrived and returned.

28 „ Four degrees of B.D. conferred.

1 July, I read Comn. in Church ; Dr. Wms. in Chapel.

3 „ At Aberayron, Education Board.

15 „ Preached in Church.

21 „ Arrived at St. David's.

29 „ Preached in Choir.

21 Aug., Abergwili. Saw the Channel Fleet at Milfoid.
26 „ Preached in Choir, Sacrt.

11 Sept., I saw the " Great Eastern."

29 „ College meets.

1 Oct., Admitted 10 new men.

9 „ Visitation on at Cardigan.

22 „ Warden of Llandovery in Church.
H Dec, Vacations commenced.

25 „ I in Church ; no service in Chapel.
1861, 2 Feb., College met. Two entered.

3 „ Dr. Williams morn. I in Eve. Morn. I in

Church.
31 March, Easter Sunday. Archd. North in Church in

the morn., I in Chapel at \ past 3.
1 April, Left for London.
17 „ Arrived home ; College met.

26 June, List of Places given out.

27 „ Degrees (3) Conferred.

30 „ Preached in Church. Ch. Lloyd in eve., Bi-

lingual.

22 July, I left for St. David's.

23 „ Arrived.

3 Aug., 68rd Birthday.
29 „ Went by water to Hobbf Point
25 Sept., Arrived at home from Cardigan.

72

1861, 29 Sept., R. W. Last Sermon, even., Mr. Bunsen \\ in

English.

1862, 1 Feb., Term began.

10 April, Chapter Meeting at St. David's.

19 „ * Fairy ' foaled in the night.

8 June, Dr. Wms. and W.N. Chapel, I and W.O.E.,

Church.
12 „ Dr. Williams left for Bd. Chalk.

17 „ Examiners arrived.

18 „ Examin. began, 37 men.

22 „ Mr. Perowne, morn. ; Mr. Gandell, eve. in

Chapel.
21f „ Class List, 35 passed, 2 fd., Allin A. passed.

1 July, Qr. Sessions.

4 „ C.C.C. and Educn. Board at Abevayron.

20 „ I in Church in morn. ; W.O.E. eve.

21 „ Left for St. David's.

25 „ Audit; Dinner here, 18 at it ; I preached in

the Choir.
27 „ I preached and Admin. Sacrament in Choir.

2 Aug., I preached in Choir ; 6£ years old.

These and many similar entries give a fair idea of the dean's
interests and daily life. We shall see, in the chapter on "Earliest
College Days," that all was not plain sailing between him and his
colleagues ; and, much as we may admire Lewellin as a preacher
and a dean, it is quite open to question the wisdom of his re-
taining the principalship of the college for half a century ;
probably he would have studied its highest interests, and served
it better, had he retired on receipt of the memorable letters
from Vice-principal Harold Browne. With his predecessors,
Erasmus Lewes, William Williams, and Eliezer Williams, all that
can die of him rests within the precincts of the parish burial-
ground.

|| The Rev. Henry George Bunsen, M.A. (d. 1885), rector of Donington, Salop, eldest
son of Baron Bunsen. At Rugby, under Dr. Arnold. When at Oriel, he happened to be
passing by at the moment that Jowett's skiff was upset, in one of the lower reaches of
the river ; and ever after the Master of Balliol spoke of Bunsen as having acted the part
of the Good Samaritan on that memorable day in. the Master's student life. — G.E.E.

jftattcanfatmitj).

For the beginning of nonconforming worship we must look, not
in the parish itself, but just over its borders at Caeronen, Cil-
gwyn, and Coedgleision.

At Caeronen (or Cellan, as it was first known), the dissenting
interest dates from before the Commonwealth. It is said that
Vavasor Powell came to preach at Ddolgam (Coedmorfach)
about the year 1642. The congregation at first assembled for
worship in secret at dwellings, owing to the persecuting spirit of
the times; and its first meeting-house, erected soon after 1661,
adjoined a farm-house, with a door of communication between
them, to afford the worshippers a means of escape from arrest —
a contrivance which many other nonconforming congregations
had recourse to in those days. This modest building is that
alluded to* in this application for a licence in 1672 : —

Licence to Evan Hughes to be a Congr. Teacher at the house of
David Hughes of Kellan, in Cardigansh.

The second meeting-house, still standing, and now used as a
barn,t was built in 1747, on a lease of ninety-nine years, given
by Mrs. Letitia Lloyd, of Caeronen.

The third meeting-house was erected in 1846, on ground given
by Mr. William Davies, of Trebannau.

It appears that the congregation was one of five or more
branches forming one church ministered to by various ministers.
The Rev. Timothy Davies, in his diary, 1735 — 1770, refers to
these branches as Abermeurig, Blaenpenal, Caeronen, Cilgwyn,
and Llwynrhys.

* State Papers, Domestic Series, Charles II. ; Entry Book 88a, p. 266.

t On Sunday afternoon, the 22nd November, 1903, I visited this old meeting-house, in
company with my father's venerable friend, Thomas Evans (b. 80th Sept., 1818), the
senior member of Caeronen Chapel, who had worshipped in the old place, and gave
me many interesting particulars about it and its ministers. The front panelling of a
gallery, entered by stone steps from the outside, was then in situ. The farm of which
it is a part is known as Pentrefelin, and is about half-a-mile distant from the present
chapeL— G.E.E.

10

74

1785, June 15. I preached at Abermeurig.

June 22. Sacrament Day at Kilgwyn. Mr. E\yaii]

l)[avies] administered.
June 29. Preach d at Llwynrhys and Blaenpenal.
July 6. Preacbbd at Kellan and Kilgwyn.

The following are the names of some of the laborious and
faithful men who, tin til the passing of the Act of Toleration in
1689, always at the risk of imprisonment, and often in much
affliction, undauntedly ministered to these associated congre-
gations : —

John Evans had received Presbyterian ordination during the
Commonwealth, and officiated at Bangor-on-Teify and Henllan
for five years before the Restoration. After 1662 he preached
to the Cellan congregation for some time. At this period "he
was much tempted to conform. His great patron, David Lloyd
Gwyn, Esq., offered him a rich patronage, but he durst not
accept it." He died soon after, 1662.

John Hanmer, an itinerant preacher in the counties of
Brecon and Radnor, employed by the Commissioners during the
Commonwealth; but after his ejection in 1662, "he served the
congregation at Cellan with great humility and success." He
had a long and troublous life. In the book referred to above
we read (p. 273), Licence to John Hamer of Llanbister in Badnorsh.
Congr. Teacher.

David Jones, M.A. Educated at Oxford, and ordained ac-
cording to Presbyterian usage. After his ejection from Llan-
badarnfawr, he officiated as a nonconformist, and was much
persecuted in consequence. He was a learned man, and the
author of many books. He died of consumption in 1700.

Evan Hughes. Ejected from Llandyfriog in 1662. His
name appears in the above extract ; he had a long and troublous
life, but it is recorded of him that "he had various trials and
difficulties, but his patience was exemplary."

Morgan Howell. Born at Bettws Bledrws. Began to
preach as a nonconformist four or five years before the Resto-
ration, and continued to do so almost to the close of the seven-
teenth century.

Before proceeding briefly to enumerate some of the other
ministers who immediately followed the ejected ones, let us see

75

what the long-missing Cilgwyn Church Book}: contains about
these branch congregations.

CILGWYN CHURCH BOOK.\\

A List of such as were Members of the Dissenting Protestant
Church of Christy meeting at Ca'ronnen, Cmgymaen, Llwyn Rhys,
and Kilgwynfrom the year 1692 to the year 1698,

David Jones \ Pad(y) . s
David Edwards j

Morgan Howel \ Tmchirs
David John Rees )

John Jones } Pres : gub[ema,tor.~\
Ghiffith Hugh ) Pres : gub.

David Evans } n

rr t i r Deacons.

hvan John J

&c. &c. &c. &c.

In the year 1704 and "before that,

Philip Pugh
&c. &c.

A List or Catalogue, of Members of tlie Church of Chnst
meeting at Kilgwyn, 1728, &c. pp. 9 — 16.

Philip Pugh | p
Evan Davtes j

X These extracts were taken from the manuscript book itself in April, 1860, by the
late Walter D. Jeremy, M.A., Barrister-at-law, Bencher of the Honourable Society of
Gray's Inn, and J. P. for Cardiganshire. His sheets are now before me, by the kindness
of his nephew, Principal Walter J. Evans, M.A., Gaermarthen. Where is the original
book ? For it I have hunted persistently during the last three years. All signs point to
its being at Lampeter, where it is said to have been delivered to the late Jenkin Da vies,
printer, by the Rev. Bvan Lewis (d. 1864), minister of Gapel Cilgwyn, who had some
idea of having it printed. Frequent applications have been made by different friends
to Mrs. Jenkin Davies, Lampeter, to ascertain for a certainty if she yet has it in her
custody ; to all such, however, she refuses permission to see it, and will give no informa-
tion about it. To most callers she refuses even to answer the door, though known to
be in the house. The nearest approach to any definite knowledge about it is her reply,
on the 16th June, 1904, to one caller, who, making application on my behalf for per-
mission to view the MSS., was told, "I don't know where they are; I lent them to
somebody ; I will get them back, and will then send for you." Surely the day must
come when this invaluable volume will enter the portals of the Welsh National Library,
and there to be safe and available to all.— G.B.E. *

|| The extracts as made by W. D. Jeremy were printed in the Welsh Gazette, Aber-
ystwyth, 21st January, 1904.— G.E.E.

76

Dy'd. Members of Kilgwyn Congregation from the year 1718
exclusive, to the yr. 1728 inclusive"

[Here follow the Names.]

The Names of Adult members of Cilgwyn yt. di/d since the
yr. 1728.

[Here follow the Names.']

itbfpr alitor *
1747. Mr. Evan Davies, dy'd 10 br. 10th 1747; bury'd the

12th ; ordained April 18th. 1726 ; aged 71 years.
1755. Mrs. M. Davies, Felindre.

Members of the Church of Christ meeting at Kilgwyn, Caer-
onen, and Abermeyrig, from the year 1786-7 [sic] when those of
Llanbadam Odyn separated : —

Philip Pugh \

Evan Davies J* Pastors.

Timothy Davies J

Evan Griffith, pres. gub.

Mary, wife of James Jenkin, of Olm.

Thomas Williams, Lampeter.

Sarah, wife of Walter Thomas, Cyssuch.

Mrs. Lloyd, of Lloydjack.

[The list is brought down to the yr. 1748.]

Members of the Church of Christ, meeting at Llwynpiod, 1738.

Philip Pugh 1

Evan Davies > Pastors.

Timothy Davies j

DISSENTING PROTESTANT MINISTERS

IN
SOUTH WALES.

Amongst the sixty-seven names in list are those of

James Lewis, of Pencader ; ord. 1706 [aged 64 in 1738].
David Jenkins, of Crug-y-maen ; ord. in June 1708.
Philip Pugh. of Blaenpennal ; ord. in Oct., 1709.
Christmas Samuel, of Pant-teg ; ord. 1710.
Henry Palmer, of Henllan ; ord. 8br., 1721, obiit 1742.
David Seyes, of Llechryd ; ord. Aug., 1725, ob. 1741-

77

Evan Davies, of Kilgwyn ; ord. 1726, obiit 1747,

Jenkin Jones, of Llwynrhydowen ; ord. Apr. 1726, obiit 1742.

Timothy Davies, of Kilgwyn ; ord. May, 17 87.

David Lloyd, of Brynberian ; ord. 28 June, 1748.

John Lewis, ordained at P encoder, 8 Aug., 1748. •

Owen Davies, of Grofft-y-cyff "I both aid. at Crofft-y-cyff,

James Davies, of Abermeirig ) 6 & 7 Oct., 1743.

Thomas Morgan, of Henllan, 26 June, 1746.

David Lloyd, of Llwynrhydowen, „ 1746.

These particulars only make us the more anxious to see the
Cilgwyn Church Book itself, and to know that it is in a place
of safety.

To continue an account of some of the early ministers :

David Edwardes. A native of Cellan, a grandson of Peter
Edwardes, of Deri-odwyn ; and cousin of the Rev. John Jones, of
Llwynrhys — the first dissenting minister in Cardiganshire. Or-
dained in 1688, he ministered at Caeronen for thirty-six years.
He appears to have received a good education, and held a
prominent position among the associated ministers. He was
brother to John Edwardes (1723 — 1796), great-grandfather of
Mr. John Edwardes Rogers, § J.P., of Abermeurig, who, writing
on the 28th February, 1905, says : —

David Edwardes, of Abermeurig, was the builder of the first
chapel at Abermewig, which was tlien, I believe, Presbyterian.
Before that he held services here at Abermeurig. He used to
preach here and at Cilgwyn, and Caeronen, and other places.
He was a great friend of Philip Pugh, and he left Philip Pugh
many of his books. The inscription on his gravestone in Nant-
cwnlle churchyard is as follows : —

Sseve Z\et§ t$e Goo? of Jatno gbwavbes*,
tv§o bepavteb t$x& fife tfye 29tfy bat? of §ep=
tembev, 1716, a^eb 56.

$ Mr. Rogers, in sending me this, corrects an error on p. 40. He writes : — My grand-
father, Lewis Roger* (17 hU— 1799), m. (1782) Anne, only dau. of John Edwardes (1798—1796).
My father, Dr. John Rogers, was the sole survivor of the issue of that marriage. John Ed-
tcardes was not the builder of the present Abermeurig. His s., Dr. David Edwardes, built it,
about 1790, shortly before his marriage. His father then left, and went to live at a neigh-
bouring house of his called Hafod, where he died. Dr. David Edwardes died without issue, and
his estate fell to my grandmother, Mrs. Lewis Rogers. John Edwardes m. Ann Thomas, of
Longhouse, Pembrokeshire. A curious thing about it is that Peter Edwardes, of Abermeurig,
John Edwardes' s father, m. Diana Thomas, of Longhouse. It is pleasant to record the fact
that a few months ago Mr. Rogers gave the Unitarian congregation, worshipping at
Khydygwin Chapel, not far from Abermeurig, sufficient land to enable it to make a
.necessary extension of the structure. — 6.B.E.

78

Jenkin Jones. A son of the Rev. John Jones, of Llwyn-
rhys, and a brother of David Jones, captain in the Life Guards
in the time of King William III., and who, it is said, was
present at the Battle of the Boyne. He became associated with
the Eev. David Edwardes in 1695, and, in conjunction with his
ministerial colleagues, kept a flourishing school at Cilgwyn. His
youngest daughter was married to the Rev. Timothy Davies, of
Felindre.

David Jenkins. Educated at the Presbyterian Academy,
Caermarthen, by the Rev. William Evans, and ordained in 1708,
" to officiate chiefly at Crug-y-maen, but to minister also to the
other associated congregations." He died in 1758, when the
Rev. David Lloyd, of Brynllefrith, declined an invitation to be
his successor.

Philip Pugh.* This highly respected minister was a native
of Hendref, in this county, and born in 1679. His name appears
in Walter Wilson's list of students educated (1690-7) by the
Rev. Samuel Jones, M.A., and at Abergavenny (1697 — 1702)
by the Rev. Roger Griffith. On the completion of his studies
at the latter place, he returned to his native county, and, after
preaching for some years, was ordained, in October, 1709, as
co-pastor with the Revs. David Edwardes and Jenkin Jones. His
pastorship extended .over a period of fifty-one years. He was an
able and impressive preacher, and to him the Rev. David Davis,
of Castell Hywel, in his " Ffarwel i'r Byd a'r Eglwys," attributes
some of his early religious impressions : —

Taer y galwai Meistir Pugh
Ienctyd ffol i geisio Duw ;
Rhai o'i eiriau aeth fel hoelion,
Gyda bendith, at fy ughalon.

Mr. Pugh belonged to a wealthy family, and was himself in
affluent circumstances throughout his life, and, having both the
power and the will to do good, he was a benefactor in his neigh-
bourhood. It has been supposed that he ministered to the
associated congregations gratuitously, or nearly so. His co-
pastor, the Rev. Timothy Davies, frequently refers to him in
his diary : —

I went with Mr. Pugh to the Xtning of W.J.'s child. In the
first place he pray'd a short prayer, begging grace to perform the

* For further particulars see p. 89. — G.E.E.

79

ordinance by faith, with an acknowledgment of GooVs favour in
giving such ordinance. Then he read the words of Institution, St.
Matt, xxviii. 18 to end. Here lie expounded and showed that
infants were baptized by the form of the Commission, " all the
Gentiles " — the water signifies the purification of the Spirit, and it
is likely to be performed by sprinkling, in allusion to the blood of
the Sacrifice, or the blood of XL, which was shed for us. Here he
calVd for the Infant, and baptized him ; then prayed to God to
bless the child, and to restore the mother, and so concluded.

The Rev. and dear Mr. Philip Pugh was removed from his
labours here to his Eternal Rest, July the 12th, being a Saturday
morning^ about 9 o'clock, and bury'd the 15th, 1760, at Llanddewi
Brefi. I served with him as a Son with a Father, 27 years, and
about two' months. How pleasant was the service! May God
Almighty help me to follow him, and finish as he did. His
name and memory will be highly valued by me.

James Davies. He was educated at the Presbyterian
Academy, under the Rev. William Evans ; and was ordained in
1743, as co-pastor with the Rev. Philip Pugh "at Cilgwyn and
the other places." He was the father of the Revs. Evan Davies,
of Llanedi, and Daniel Davies, of Ynysgau, Merthyr.

Evan Davies was born at Llechryd, and received a good
education. Ordained as assistant to the Rev. Philip Pugh in
1726. At that time he was fifty years of age, but it has been
conjectured that he had previously been officiating as a lay
preacher. He died in 1747, aged seventy-one years.

Timothy Davies. A native of Cellan, and said, but without
sufficient evidence, to have been the son of the above Rev. Evan
Davies. Educated at the Presbyterian Academy, under the Rev.
Thomas Perrott (1715-34), and, in 1737, ordained as an assistant
to the Rev. Philip Pugh. His dear mother, at Kilgwyn, after
11 days' illness, departed this life on the 7th January, 1738/9. He
was ma?ried at Llangeitho, 19 June — a Thursday — 1740, per Rev.
John Rowlands, parson of the place, from whence I came to Blaeneu
Kdlan, — my mother-in-law being taken ill about a fortnight before.
His wife was Sarah (d. 1755), youngest daughter of the Rev.
Jenkin Jones. His mother-in-law dy'd after a 7 weeks' illness in
July the 21st — being a Monday — 1? '40, about £ a mile beyond Kellan,

80

and was bwry'd at Llanbadarn Odyn, the 24th, 1740, five weeks exactly
after I was marry'd. An awful dispensation! His children were: —

Sarah, b. 1741, christened by Rev. Philip Pugh at Kaeronen.
Jonathan, b. 1748, „ — do. — Blaenan Kellan.

David, b. 1746, „ — do. — do.

Madam Pugh being present at the Christening. He d. 12th
October, 1768.

Mary, b. 1749, „ — do. — do.

Evan, b. 1752, „ — do. — do.

[Succeeded his father at Caeronen and Cilgwyn ; founder of the
Cribyn congregation, m. (1) 8th May, 1783, at Cellan Church,
Jane Davies (d. 1807), of Bailiau ; (2) Elizabeth (d. 1848), dau. of
Walter Davies, of Maespwll. Died 1817.]

Rachel, b. 1755, „ — do. at Velindre.

The day after her mother's departure, I agreed with Mary, wife
of Anthony Thomas, for nursing her for a whole year. She was
with her 2 years and one quarter.

My very dear wife was brought to bed, 16th July, 1755, being
a Wednesday, and delivered of a daughter about noon ; seemed
tolerably well (consideratio considerandii) till the Lord's Day
morning, July 20, when she was very ill, and continued so till
about 9 at night, when she departed.

The last entry made by the Rev. Timothy Davies in his diary,
from which these quotations are taken — the original, vellum-
jacketed and ' brass-clasped, being now before the writer — is on
the 25th May, 1771, in which year he died. He began to
register his baptisms in it on the 27th March, 1750. The entries
of Lampeter people are very numerous, as well as in that of the
section devoted to the names of those Admitted into tlve com-
munion at Kellan, showing that a large portion of his congrega-
tion lived in the town.

In addition to his ministerial duties, he was also engaged
in teaching, and one of his pupils was the Rev. Solomon Harries,
minister of the Presbyterian congregation, Swansea, and prin-
cipal (1784-85) of the Presbyterian Academy, then located in
that town. His brother, the Rev. Evan Davies (d. 1770), was
theological tutor (1740 — 1759) at the Academy, and, after his
retirement, settled first at Rochford, and afterwards at Billericay,

81

in Essex, where he died. He is said to have been, at one time,
an assistant to the Eev. Philip Pugh, and to have taught in
the flourishing school kept for many years at Cribyn.

One other quotation from his diary is of interest, as showing
how a long journey was performed in the first half of the
eighteenth century. Three days after his ordination, Timothy
Davies went on a visit to England. Of it he writes : —

N.B. I went from home tovjd Richmond on Thursday ye 29th
May, 1788, to Ledham ye first night, thence to Hereford and
Gloster, where' I overtook the Rev, Mr. Cole* and Mr. Hyde,
with whom I went that night to Cirencester, and from thence to
Fair ford, to Lechdale (or Ledslow), then to Faringtm^ Abing-
don, and to Benson,\ where we lodged together, thence to Nettle-
bed,^ to Heriley-on-Thames, Maidenhead, Colebrook,% and followed
ye London Road over Honslow Heath, till I came within half a
mile of Honslow Town, where I turrid down on ye right, and
enquired ye road to Twittenham [Twickenham] Town, arid thence
directly to Richmond Ferry, ana down ye street till I came to ye
^9 n of V e Greyhound, opposite to which lies ye Charity School. I
fell sick ye last day of my journey in my return, which was abt.
8 weeks after I set out, but God was pleased to recover me, bless'd
be His name for His Goodness unto me.

The subsequent ministerial succession of the Caeronen Pres-
byterian Congregation (to use the name long given it) is : —

John Jeremy IT ... ... ... 1819 — 1845

Thos. Jeremy Griffiths (Tau GimelJ^l

supply ... ... ... 1847 — 1853

David Evans, B. A 1853 — 1875

Rees Cribin Jones ... 1871 — 1905 —

The congregation, having passed through Arminian and Arian
stages, is now Unitarian.

* Was he father of the Rev. John Cole (b. 1738), minister of the John Street congre-
gation, Wolverhampton, 1759— 1781?— G.E.B.

t Here there is a x» and the word Rochester written in margin.— G.K.E.

i t «., Benshington, in Oxfordshire. Only those who have walked down the Vale of
the White Horse know the beauty of the district through which these three men then
rode.— G.E.B.

II Did they here visit Mother Hibblemeer's never-failing well?— G.B.E.

I From Windsor, 4 miles.— G.B.E.

U Cf. Brief Biographies, ut infra.

11

82

Cilgwyn Chapel, in which the Rev. Philip Pugh and his
associated ministers preached, stood a little distance higher up
on the hillside from the present one, which, in 1840, was built in
the village of Llangybi. An entry in the register of this congre-
gation, now before me, leads one to assert that the old chapel
was restored in the year 1825.

Names of the Men that Paid towards Rebuild of Cilgwyn
Meeting-house, in the year 1825.

The total sum of £37 3s. Od. was received from seventy-eight
persons, the amounts ranging from the £2 10s. Od. given by
David Davies, of Blaenwern, to the sixpence received from Betto,
James Pengarn's maid. This amount would hardly suffice to
rebuild the chapel, and conversation with the very few old men
and women living, in 1903, who remembered the unaltered
building, compels me to believe that nothing more than a sub-
stantial restoration was done in 1825.

In 1840 practically the whole building was removed to Llan-
gybi.* Carefully and slowly the stones of its walls were carted
down the valley, and used to build Ty Cwrdd y Cilgwyn. Nothing
was left that could possibly be used ; even the eight larch trees,
yet standing guard in their old age over the chapel and its
burying-ground, were dug up and replanted in their present
positions. On the front wall was placed this inscription : —

CAPEL CILGWYN.

§efx)blxox}b *v ac$os §xx>n

3$n t? fZivybbyxi 1654.

|V6ctCa6tt>^6 t}t\ 9 fan ^on

3$n V ftxv^bb^tt 1840.

, @t avtvybb-axv x)to
Qymmobx 9 0^6 ag gf ex £but\.

99

Contributions towards the re-erection of the chapel were received
from many friends, inter alia,

* For an account of the transcribing of the perishing register of this parish by "Old
Mortality," in 1903, see "Cardiganshire: Its Antiquities," pp. 211-2.— G.fi.E.

83

£ s. d.
Major Evans, Highmead ... ... 1

Alltyblaca Congregation ... ... 1 - -

Llwynrhydowen „ ... ...#--

In 1828 a list of members was begun : amongst the names are
no. 3, David Dairies, Coed park. Aeth yn Ddwyf undodiad 1828;
no. 37, John Jones, mab hynaf Jno. Jones, Olmarchisaf, 1842.

With John Jones, eighty-three years of age, I had a long con-
versation in December, 1903. He

Had taken his communion in Cilgwyn for more than
sixty years ; helped to remove the chapel stones ; remem-
bered that occasionally a Unitarian preached in yr hen gapel;
that Evan Lewis, the minister, used, now and again, to
preach at Llwynrhydowen, but not in his last years ; that
there were from sixty to eighty communicants in yr hen
gapel; that everyone stood at prayers ; that morning service
was at 10 and lasted two hours, with a sermon of more than
half that time.

When ten years of age, in 1830, my informant talked to his
grandfather, then 102 years old ; which means that in December,
1903, the writer of this chapter talked with a man who had held
converse with one born in 1728, the year after George II. came
to the throne.

One question put to John Jones and to other old natives was,
" What used the Cilgwyn congregation to be called 1 " The
answers given me were : —

" Presbyteriaid,"
" Arminiaid,"
" Capel Shipris."

In 1864, when the Rev. Evan Lewis died, the congregation
had allied itself with the Free Methodists ; and, a year or so
afterwards, passed to the Wesleyan Methodists, with which
denomination the few worshippers now remaining in the chapel
are mainly connected.

Evan Lewis, in his diary, which has passed through my hands,
says he received Presbyterian ordination in 1820, there being present
on that occasion the Rev. Professor David Lewis Jones, of the Pres-
byterian College,^ Carmarthen; D. Davies,% Llanybri ; W. Bees,

t Evan Lewis was a student of this college.— O.B.E.
J Father of Rev. John Da vies, Llwynrhydowen. — G.E.E.

84

Llwynrhydowen ; D. Davies, \\ Llechryd; Arthur Williams, Lampeter;
and G. Griffiths, § Ebenezer, Llangybi. Arthur Williams baptized
three of Lewis's children, and there was a close intimacy between
the two ministers. Lewis was buried in Ystrad churchyard : his
coffin plate yet hangs on the wall in his old chapel, immediately
opposite to the pulpit.

Coedgleision Chapel was the original home of the orthodox
Baptists, now worshipping at Silian. The ruins are still visible
in the wood at Deri Ormond, just above the saw-mill, on the
high road to Lampeter. Around the remains of the walls is the
unfenced and unprotected burial-ground. Eight headstones
remain, but there are traces of other graves without such. I
copied : —

% P. & P. '

31. 84. Jl. 52.

1766. 1772.

Others are to Mary (d. 1829), wife of John Rees, Llwynieir,
parish of Lampeter; Mary (d. 1836), his daughter, wife of John
Rees, Cefn Foelallt; Thomas (d. 1837), his son; and Thomas
(d. 1840), son of Mary and Jms. Evans y saer, parish of Llan-
wenog.

The first reference to nonconforming worship actually in
Lampeter itself is to be found in the

KILOWYN CHURCH BOOK, 1728,

where, in the extracts made by Walter D. Jeremy (p. 75) we
read : —

A list of such as were Members of a Church of Christ gathered
in Cardiganshire from the year 165 S to the year 1659.

Lampeter, March the 4th, 1654.

Rees Powel, Pastor.
Evan Hugh, &c, <&c, &c.

Bettws, June the 10th, 1654.
Llanarth, Sepr. the 9th, 1654-
Llanbadarn Fawr, Octr. 8, '54-
Llangoedmor.

|| Did he not write an elegy on the death of Rev. Evan Davies?— G.B.E.
$ Father of Tau Gimel.—G.'E.K.

85

Lanbadarn Odwyn, 7th month, 1655.
. Garthely, Abermeing, Aug., 1657.

With this tantalising reference we must perforce be content until
such a time as the original MSS. are once more available to the
historian.

As we have seen (p. 64) Rees Powel returned to the Estab-
lished Church, but the congregation still assembled for worship.
In the Licence Book already mentioned (p. 73) we get this entry
under date of 1672 : —

The house of Evan David of Llanbeder in Cardigansh.
Congr*

At this distance of time it is impossible exactly to locate the
house of Evan David. On the 24th December, 1699, one Evan
David, of Pantyrhwch, cottager, was buried in the churchyard.
The similarity of name and the date do not forbid the assump-
tion that this was the man who desired to open his house for
worship. Lampeter is not named by the Rev. Henry Maurice in
his account of the number of the churches in Wales and their pastors,
which, in 1675, he sent to the Rev. Edward Terrill, at Bristol. t

Cardiganshire. — There are general parties of people
professing godliness in this county, yet but one entire
church in it: namely, that which meets at Llan[badarn-
vawr], being the first original gathered church in this
country, of the judgment commonly called independent, but
very moderate. Mr. David Jones, of Penfbrin], is their
pastor ; Morgan Ho wells and Evan Hughes, elders ; John

* Other county references are : —

May the 90th, 167t.

Received then a licence for James Davie* to preach in his own house at Cardigan.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand,

Stephen Hughes.

The howse of James Davies of Cardigan, Congr. Meeting-place, 8 May '72.

Licence to Morgan Howell to be a Congr. Teacher at the house of John Jones of
Lambadame Odyn, Cardygsh.

The house of David Thomas of Llandysilio, Cardigansh. Congr.

The house of David Ree [sic] of Lanvaye Trelygen, Cardsh. Congr.

The house of Phillip David ofDickewede [Dihewyd], Cardigansh. Congr.

Licence to David Jones to be a Congr. Teacher at his own house at Llandewi Brevy
in Cardigansh.

The house of the Widd. Owyn of the Towne of Cardigan, Congr.
— Cf. Transactions, Congregational Historical Society, 1905, vol. il, 11— 21.— G.B.B.

t Cf. " Broadmead Records," edited for the Hanserd Knollys Society by Edward Bean
Underbill, 1847, p. 512.

86

Jones, elder elect, together with some deacons. There are
also here a party of baptists, under imposition of hands,
that are joined to Mr. William Jones's church in Carmar-
thenshire, whereof hereafter. There are also here several
members of Mr. Stephen Hughes's church ; namely, Car-
marthenshire.

About the year 1743 signs of Methodism begin to appear : we
hear of a gathering being rudely broken up, of persecution, and
imprisonment; of thirty-eight members worshipping at Ty'n-
rheol, and of Daniel Kowland coming over from Llangeitho to
preach on .a Sunday afternoon. Some time in the latter half of
the eighteenth century a chapel was built at Creigiau, being a
branch, in all probability, of the congregation at Llangeitho.
After a while, and for what reason we know not exactly, the
worshippers at Creigiau removed themselves to Lampeter to the
house of Mr. David Jenkins, father-in-law of the Rev. John
Jones (d. 1867). In 1806 a chapel (now converted to dwelling
houses) was erected in the Priory, on land bought by David
Jenkins. The Rev. Nathaniel Rowland (p. 42), who was one of
the trustees of the Creigiau chapel, being at Lampeter on a
visit, sanctioned the removal of the stones and other materials
from it to be used for the rearing of the new building, which
was opened with sermons by the Revs. John Williams, Lledrod ;
Thomas Grey, Abermeurig ; Ebenezer Morgan, Twrgwyn ; and
John Thomas, Cardigan. The inscribed stone, placed on the
front of the chapel, and yet in situ, reads : —

TABERNACL.

Jl66of6i? pextQynot x

Hwmxxxxbeb %} 'gftetfyobx&txaxb

@aCfmat6d.

Jl6etfa6tt>^6

M DCCCVI.

In 1874 the congregation removed to Siloh, its present chapel.
By its recent purchase of a small plot of adjacent land it has
become the possessor of the noble yew tree which has long
flourished there, and which, there is every reason to hope, will be
reverently cared for by the worshippers. With the history of
the growth and development of the nonconforming congregations

87

in the town during the nineteenth century we are not so much
concerned.

The Wesleyan congregation dates from 1806, being the out-
come of the labours of Edward Jones, Mathafarn. The earliest
manuscript pertaining to this congregation is an account book of
1810, its Baptismal Register begins in 1839 — both of which the
writer consulted in 1905. On the building is a stone : —

35utCf 1828.
tyebuin 1875.

The Independents, as we saw on page 47, were granted ground
whereon to build a meeting-house, in 1841 ; but ten years before,
the congregation began to worship in the " Bragdy." The
present chapel (Soar) was opened in 1874. The ministerial
succession is : —

David Davies 1841 — d. 1871

John Thomas 1872 — d. 1887

Evan Evans 1889 — 1905 —

The Unitarian congregation dates from 1874, the year of its
first meeting at Ram. Rapidly increasing in numbers, the mem-
bers cast about for a site in the town for their chapel, when the
late Thomas Hugh Rice Hughes, of Neuadd Fawr, at once
intimated to them his intention of carrying out the expressed
wish of his father, Thomas John Hughes (d. 1872), of Castell
Du, that a gift of the land necessary for their purposes should be
conveyed to them. This was accordingly done, and on the site
of the present building the first chapel was erected, and opened
in June, 1876. The roof proving too heavy, and thereby forcing
out the walls, it was taken down, and in its stead the gem of
ecclesiastical architecture in which the congregation now wor-
ships was reared, and opened in June, 1904. To increase the
burial-ground, a further plot of land was given by Squire Hughes
shortly before his death. The only minister has been

Rees Cribin Jones, 1876 — 1905 —

88

The Baptist congregation is an offshoot of the Silian one. Its
neat chapel at the end of Bridge Street dates from 1898.

In addition to the authorities already mentioned in this
chapter, acknowledgment must be made of the article on Caer-
onen by the late Eev. D. D. Jeremy, M.A., which appeared in
Yr Ymofynydd, Ebrill, 1897 ; and of " Hanes Methodistiaeth
Khan Ddeheuol Sir Aberteifi," by the Kev. John Evans, Aber-
meurig, 1904.

(Earliest College Jag*.

When the day comes, as soon it ought, that the story of St.
David's College will be told, this chapter may perchance do its
share in contributing some facts connected with its memorable
years of 1827-8. Here are embodied divers bits of its early
history, gleaned from letters in the " G walker Mechain " col-
lection of MSS. in the Welsh National Library, Aberystwyth,
and from the " Tonn " MSS. in Cardiff Library.

Rice Rees; its first Welsh professor, was a born letter writer,
if ever there was one ; and, on an average, once a month during
these opening years in the history of the College, he sent off
long, chatty epistles to his fond uncle, Rector Rees, of Cascob,
who, a wise man, preserved his nephew's sheets ; and here they
are to-day, bound up with some hundreds of others, all now
contained in one fat half-calf folio and twelve vellum-backed
volumes.

After leaving Lampeter Grammar School and Vicar John
Williams, where he had had as one of his schoolfellows Sir
Walter Scott's second son Charles, Rice Rees entered Jesus
College, Oxford, as a commoner, on the 15th May, 1822, and
was elected a scholar on the 1st December, 1825. In the fol-
lowing year overtures were made to him by Bishop Burgess,
through Principal Lewellin, which resulted in his appointment
to the Welsh chair. From his home at Llandovery, where he
had been spending his Christmas, he writes to tell his uncle, on
the 8th February, 1827, that:—

* I went over to Lampeter last Friday to meet Mr. Lewellin,
.... and he agreed to meet me at Carmarthen, where we
might purchase some articles of furniture. Upon my arrival at
Carmarthen last Tuesday, I found Mr. Ollivant there, when I was
introduced to him by Mr. L. ; he is a very pleasant, unassuming
man. We determined together that the lowest rate of examination

* These extracts were committed to press for the first time since they were written in
the Welsh Gazette, 9th and ltith June, 20th and 27th October, and 3rd November, 1904.—
G.E.E.

12

90

for students upon entering, shall be iii the four Evangelists in
Greek, the first six books of the Iliad ; the Ecoluges and Georgia
of Virgil ; and the Odes and Episodes of Horace ; they must also
translate a few sentences of English into Latin, but any further
examination will be optional.

We shall see further on how, from sheer necessity, but with
sad hearts, they had no option save to lower this standard, owing
to the raw nature of the material with which they had to deal.
He proceeds : —

It is Mr. Ollivanfs and my intention to occupy two of the
students 7 rooms, pro tempore, until we can furnish our own to our
satisfaction. I am afraid it will cost me £150 before I finish.
. . . It is expected thai we shall have about SO students at ths
commencement, there have been several applications already, among
which are four from England. The committee have provided beds
and bedsteads for the students, but they must procure themselves
the remainder of the furniture. Thirty caps and gowns have been
ordered for them at Oxford.

Next in order of date comes a letter to Rector Rees from his
brother David, the Llandovery printer, where, at the "Stamp
Office," it was written on the 14th of March, 1827, one fortnight
after the opening of the College.

Monday previous to the opening of the College, Rice and I went
to Lampeter in a chaise, which was a favourable conveyance to
carry many small articles necessary for his residence at College,
the heavy goods were sent over in Tonn cart the same day. Upon
our arrival at Lampeter, Bice introduced me (as his Uncle)
to Mr. Lewellin and Mr. Ollivant. We all dined together at the
cost and charges of the Principal, at his apartments in the College,
being the very first dinner dressed in St. David's College. The

Principal and Vice-Principal were very agreeable /

have succeeded in getting the appointment of Bookseller to the
College, to the Principal, and Vice-P., and good orders have come
in already. ... 7 sent Mrs. Theo. Jones's handsome gift,
being her own copy of the " History of Brecknockshire ," which she
presented to the Library of St. David's College. I had the pleasure
of receiving the book from Mrs. Jones. . . . Rice told me that
Mr. Lewellin is rather high, and is displeased unless all his letters

90

//; >* en* ./' , shall be in the f- tr Era:, v, 7 -^.
■•■ first °>.r f.t,f.i\* af the Iliad ; the Eevluges arid fr*\-
. • ' ; and the IhU's ohd Fpiwles nf Horace ; they vi,.^ ■

• it a few sent ;><<\ -f En-ynJt into hxtin, but any tw v .
'*. >'t'i' '-to y:dl be optf'-tv.

<♦! see fiMii'T on how, from sheer necessity, but * •
J - '•- :.-, t.hev Iv.d no (>|>i.i->n su\e fo low*yr this standard, <»vv :
v r.iw nature ot the materiel! with which thev had to U?
• proceeds :- -

It is Mr. tit-', iron fa a.m. run ir^uh'tn to occupy two of
student* ' - :; : *\ jno tern parr, until >*•- ■ <//'. furnish vur own i', -
Miti:f-<-i,-.,i. I •to '-'aid it t'hi "»v/ me £ h ■",<> before I fit*
. . . It is .\qm .</ thai we y.itii hart a'u/u-t SO students */<
rohi.fi, n<' tur'nf i ■ r> >'':•> ^ 'ti * ^ mi :• plications already, an*
wh"h a re f'tut 4 ) > t< /-..;'"'"/. Th? •"finiti'e hare procidtd ■ •
t ind >f, : ■■■' mi* J'-r lit- '■'tHOt.f'* h'tt they mast pivcur<>. thr/n^.'.
the mt'r/..<;ii of tin- f, n<!u t '. Thirty caps and. tjv/.'Vs haw '-
m it r<\l J -a' fh''>/> at 'J '/• r /.

Xe,\! in order of rl.i*.» t -«i*-..'s it letter t<« Koetor Kre,s froin ».

»:hei J>a\id, the ].].ukIa-'i\ j>i ■Mtt'-r," where, ;it the "Sr*.
'. x $\x.i'" it was writUo <»». » \w. I A \\ of March, 1&27, oac fortu^
su f- (he opitiifig *ri ;<k. College.

M>j*tdaif j>iyrli,:i* ft. vV ttprwi ,t/ of the CW^yr, /iV/* and I ><
to L<u -'tei in a r'\*i »\ which ><*".< a fa: tumble conrrww '
i'tini ntnnu small ■■ • '■ .• nr'ssari/ for //?-> rrsuience at <'•/#*.•.
///•' hrory goods ■'■:>':>■ • ,:' o>:t iv T'tnm cart the same day. (
'»'/. arrival at L ■■■■■•■ r> , lt*ce- entwiuee.d vie (as hi- f neh
t" jjr Lew' J i<!t •: •••' 1 - / • (t > ! <iynL He all dined tonrfttt-r a. J -u
• t'J a-nu char a <>, ; - ."' -re i/**!, at his tijwrfwenfti in the :\-'.'- :
' //"/if/ the rent n. » •'».'»»•»•/ df<>>d if. ,^t. Ijo cut's < '•'/< v. 7*'.
l*rinnj)al ant l'i"' -!'iu;<:i.p:ii *ret> %-ry aqr'eab'\\ . . .
have sum > : *ri ,r» >r *' »<j th** appu-ntwen! of Bmtks'i'nr to t,
Cnli'O'. '«' f h i'i'*t. a td % ami J ir<-I\. »/;.:/ yo<*1 iirdrr* hat** com.
io a i t . a •'.'. . . . i sen* \frs. i in-o. J- -no's uondsom [*'•/',
ftfi.'i :* . '.> .i :>,!•: of fhr '' H-story <f Br< cknockshirf, :h<ch . w
pr*. -<"*'-* '< //'■ f ibrary of Sf Um '- 1 '-* C»'l' "je. I luul th ■ }< ?a*
■ *' •• •■ -.•.'" .'/ ' •'•.' 7 ; froul .' 1 /»-.v J 'Otf.-:. . . . litre tt»- #',•• tin

'-■• ].• i.. . '. ' ,i''},er hi eh, > i '»■' •* iit'itlcts'jd unl v>* **'/ '<»'.< /* V :

«• * »

• f

/ <

y»

^ :.ii,iii

\ i\ i

* 'TV 1 . L "»:cx ^ >'D
■ : .-' ' FD'.i-.'DV 'IS.

91

and parcels are directed " The Rev. the Principal of St. David's
College" therefore it will be advisable to humour him.

This copy of Theophilus Jones's " Brecknockshire n thus con-
veyed to the College, may fairly claim the honour of being the
first gift to enter the library, where it still lives, in company
now with many kindred companions. It has one of its author's
fine book plates on the inner front cover.

Rice takes up the tale, and in this long letter graphically
chronicles the inner life of the College during its first month's
existence : —

Lampeter :

St. David 7 s College,

24, March, 1827.
My dear Uncle,

I came here to settle on the 26th of February, when every-
thing was in a very unfit state of preparation) not even a single
plate bought for the Hall, nor a cooking utensil for the kitchen,
and yet about 20 students were expected to dine in College on the
first of March. This did not happen from any fault of ours, for
orders had been given in due time, bat were not executed, through
the stupidity and low cunning of a tradesman at Lampeter, to
whom they were entrusted. By the great exertion however of the
Principal seconded by Mr. Harford, things were brought about so
well, and with such dispatch as to excite the surprise of every one.
We also examined and admitted 8 students on Monday, 7 on
Tuesday, and 19 on Wednesday. The proceedings of Thursday
are recorded in the " Carmarthen Journal," with a tolerable degree
of faithfulness, except that only 26 students, NOT " Ifi or 50,"
dined in the Hall ; the remaining three of those admitted having
returned home for their furniture. Lampeter was so ill provided
with necessaries for the students, that only about 14 or 15 of them
were enabled to sleep in College on the night of the first of March,
and even now some of their rooms are but partly furnished. Jfre
have continued to admit students to the present time, and the
number is now increased to Jfi, a great many of them respectable
men, and with few exceptions, their outward appearamee would not
discredit any college in Oxford. From my acquaintance with the
schools of this diocese I was very well aware that the standard we
had fixed upon for the exam, at admission was a great deal too
high, but after all we were obliged to lower it much more than

92

even I myself had ever contemplated. We found the men mod
disgracefully deficient, not 20 decent scholars out of Jfil To the
generality we gave nothing more to do than three verses of the
Greek Test, and a stanza or two of Horace, but it was enough!!
Some said they had been reading Divinity for the last three years,
and had forgotten their classics, and in truth, if they wished to do
so on purpose they could not have done it more effectually. As to
"quantity," it was out of fashion. One man who had to choose
himself where he would be examined, read the third line of the
JEneid : — " Ut qUamvls dvido pdrSr#nt urvd c6ldn6."i At first
we were obliged to admit such as these for fear of terrifying the
rest, afterwards it would have been injustice to reject others who
came up to the same standard, but at last we found a man
23 years of age who did not know the Greek letters correctly, yet
he. meant to offer himself next ordination, but we made no scruple
of rejecting him. On Sunday, the Jflh March, prayers were first
read in College in the Hall, as the Chapel was not ready; and on
the next day I had the honour of being the first to give lectures at
St. David 1 s to a class of about 18 men, in St. John.

If Rice Rees felt it an honour to be the first to lecture within
the walls of the College, it is equally true to say that St. David's
holds in high honour the memory of him, whose "Essay on the
Welsh Saints " is still the authority on the early years of the
Church in Wales ; and written, be it remembered, in his College
rooms between lectures, at some of the early ones of which he
was obliged to labour like a grammar master, and to make several men
parse, as if they were in a fourth or fifth class at school.

A few days before the formal opening of College, the rector
of Cascob — thoughtful uncle that he was — had visited his
nephew at Lampeter ; and on returning to his home, sat down
and wrote a chatty letter to his life-long friend and corre-
spondent, the Rev. John Jenkins, vicar of Kerry.

/ am happy to hear that the accounts which you have heard of
my nephew's qualifications for his situation at St. David's College
are such as to induce you to speak so favourably of his appoint-
ment ; indeed the Bishop said that he considered it a fortunate

t If every long syllable is read short, and vice vervt, some approach may be made to the
way in which the student's rendering of the line must have grated on the examiner's
ears. The Lecturer in Classics to-day may, if desired, give a reproduction of the twelve
"howlers," which his earliest predecessor so graphically tells his uncle he heard made in
the rendering of this single line.— G.E.B.

93

circumstance that he had been able to obtain the services of so
able and efficient a person. He was busily employed during the
winter in pursuing his Welsh studies, and he mentioned that he
had succeeded quite to his satisfaction. He speaks favourably of
Mr. OUivant, and what is more fortunate, the tutors are likely to
draw well together. He was to furnish his apartments, the
expence of which he was apprehensive would be as much as £150.
The students are required to deposit £15 " Caution Money " on
admission. The College was not opened with any public ceremony
on St. David's Bay, in consequence of the Bishop's daily expecta-
tion of being called to attend Parliament, on account of the pro-
posed discussion respecting the Corn Laws, and the Catholic
question.

Before long, details^— academic and domestic — began to get
in order, still professors and students must have had a pretty
rough life of it in the first few weeks. The earliest time table
of lectures is that preserved in another of Rice's letters to his
uncle. Under date of the 24th March, 1827, he writes : —

Owing to the lecture rooms not being ready, we have continued
from the first to give lectures in Hall, which we find very incon-
venient, as only one tutor can lecture at a time. The day used to
be divided as follows : —

Morning prayers at 8

Mr. Ollivanfs lecture at 9

Rees's

>> 9

9 10

Ollivanfs

>> 9

9 11

Lewelliris

99 9

9 12

Rees's

)> 9

, 1

Dinner

9 4

Evening Prayer

, 5.80

But now, owing to the absence of the Vice-Principal, who is
examining the cadets at the India House, this arrangement has
been altered, and the duty falls heavier on the Principal and
myself The Principal now gives 12 lectures a week ; his books
are Grotius, Greek Test., Memorabilia, and Thucydides. I give
18, my books are Greek Test., Homer and Horace^ to which is to
be added the Anabasis as soon as books can be procured. As
to Welsh, Hebrew, and Mathematics, we have not yet attempted
either. We are quite embarrassed, for never did Jfi mm mee

94

together of more unequal ages and merits ; we have divided them
into three classes, but perhaps they would require 12 to do them
justice, and what is singular, the best scholars are to stay here the
longest, while there are about a dozen of all sorts who mean to offer
themselves next ordination. With all the difficulties and obstacles
in our way, I believe it may be said wonders have been done. We.
are well aware of many defects in our system which we mean
to remedy so soon as we can, consoling ourselves with the idea that
it requires time and experience to adjust and determine the regula-
tions of a college ; whatever the opinion of the public may be we
cannot exactly tell, we trust it is favourable, but if we cannot
secure this desirable object we will rest satisfied that we hare
endeavoured to do our duty. If we only improve the morals and
habits of the students, the money expended in the building of
the College will be amply repaid. Our discipline is strict, and we
are told we give the men full employment.

That there was need from the first for that strict discipline,
of which Professor Rice writes, is evident by what he has to
tell his uncle in the next letter, barely two months after the
opening of the College.

26 April, 1827,

A report has gone abroad that titer e has been a drunken row at
our College ; it is true that four of our men once got drunk for
which they were confined to College with impositions, but their con-
duct since, and indeed that of all the young men is as regular as
can be wished. . . . Our morning service in Hall is now at 7, we.
dine at 4, evening prayers are at 6, and the College gates are
closed at half past eight.

Meanwhile troubles of another sort had come to Mr. Lewellin
and Mr. Ollivant. Writing to Vicar Jenkins from Cascob
Rectory, on the 5th April, Rice's uncle says : —

/ received a letter from my brother about a fortnight ago,
he mentioned that there were as many as 42 students in the
College. The Principal and Vice-Piincipal had goods of value
aboard the " New Comet " from Londim to Carmarthen, which
was wrecked on Cefnsidan Sands, and consequently suffered con-
siderable loss. Mr. Ollivant regretted much the damage which his
books and manuscripts sustained, being apprehensive that what
would be saved would be of very little value.

1}

■ • i *»fc«

THE NEW 'TORK

FUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOH, LCN9X AND
TILDLN FOUNDATIONS.

95

The next letter from Rice to his uncle is of particular interest,
as it gives us a glimpse of the daily services.

26th April, 1827.

To proceed with my account of the College, it is a complaint in
the Universities that the Church service is tedious when read over
twice a day; to obviate this we read in our Chapel only a selection
from the prayers, which in the morning consists of a sentence, the
exhortation, confession, absolution, Lord's Prayer, Psalms for the
Day, a chapter of the Old Testament, the 100th psalm, the collects
of the day, for peace, for grace, prayer for all soiis and conditions
of men, general thanksgiving, and tlw prayer of St. Chrysostom:
On Wednesdays and Fridays we read only the Psalms of the Day,
a chapter, the Litany, and the prayers which follow. In the
evening we read the same selection as in the morning, only that
the chapter is taken out of the New Testament. On Sunday and
Holy Days, the whole service is read.

The consecration of the College Chapel took place on* Thurs-
day, the 23rd August, 1827. Of the events of that day, of the
mismanagement of some part of the function, 1 and of the heart-
burnings thereby occasioned, Rector Rees, of Cascob, has much
to say in one of his long letters to Vicar Jenkins, of Kerry.

Cascob,' 15th Sept., 1827.

I left home on Monday, the 20th August, and reached Llan-
dovery that evening. On the Wednesday following, I went to
Lampeter, in order to be ready for the consecration of the College
Chapel, which was to talce place the next day. On Thursday I saw
your brother Griffith, and several others who enquired for you.
The day was very favourable with respect to weather, and the pro-
ceedings of the consecration in consequence went off in a pleasing
and interesting manner. The company which attended was
numerous, though not so large as had been anticipated in the first
instance, in consequence of a paragraph that appeared in the
preceding " Carmarthen Journal," announcing that none were to
dine in the College Hall, except those who were specially invited,
which was considered a complete damper to many. I drew up
a report of the proceedings for the " Carmarthen Journal," and
directed editor to send you a newspaper, which I hope you received,
as I took some pains in stating the various particulars. From
some cause, supposed to arise from the Bishop's retired habits,

96

it was at one time stated that the proceedings were to be very
private, ami I, as well as others, was in douht whether I should be
admitted. Admission was however procured, and the Chapel
became respectably filled ; the ceremony connected with the con-
secration was solemn, and impressive, and would have been still
more so, had there been singing. With respect to the dinner, we
were told that the company was to be very select, and only ten
persons invited to meet the Bishop, this number, after the pro-
ceedings in the Chapel were concluded, was extended and between
SO and Jfi invited. Some however, who ought to have been asked,
were passed by, and great dissatisfaction was expressed. Had the
matter been general, and the dinner been an Ordinary, it would
have been much better. In consequence of the change in the
arrangement, dinnei* was not on the table until half past five, and
night soon coming on, without beds in Lampeter for one half of the
company, at least one half of the number were obliged to leave at
an early hour. The Bishop was very profuse with his speeches,
and I am told, remained to the close of the Meeting. I went off
with Mr. Davies of Llanybydder, by previous appointment, and
slept at his house that night.

Then Rector Rees proceeds to tell how he helped in sending
the first collection of gift books to the library : —

On Monday I went to Bishopston, where with visiting Swansea-
and neighbourhood, I remained until the following Monday.
While there I selected the books xohich Mrs. Davies was desirous of
presenting to the Library of St. David's College, and amounted to
100 volumes. Of these books I wrote catalogues, which I sent to
our late and present Diocesan, and packed up the books to be
forwarded to Lampeter.

So soon as the session began after the first summer vacation,
Rice again carries on correspondence with his uncle at Cascob,
and in the next two letters we get some account of the state of
the College at that time : —

19 October, 1827.

The number of students at present in CM. is 60, and we expect
more applications at Christmas. We have another letter from the •
Bishop of Salisbury, about the converted Catholic priests. He
says there are six about to come, three of them married men, and
all above 30 years of age!

97

28 November, 1827.

We obliged one man to leave College. He was not to consider
himself expelled, for his moral conduct had been good, but he was
to take his leave, as we were fully convinced it would never be of
any advantage for him to stay. He was our worst scholar,
26 years of age, and had made no improvement, so that he had
not the least chance of being ever ordained. We had another
reason for his dismissal, which was that we did not consider him
of sound mind. This last we did not tell him, but a letter was
sent to his friends by post acquainting them with all the cir-
cumstances of the case. He took his departure immediately, and
though three weeks have since elapsed, we have not heaid a syllable
respecting him.

The year 1828 began with

Fourteen Freshmen, which makes our number at present 62,
two more are expected, and four converted, Catholics are to come, so
we shall soon be full, until the Vice-Principal leaves for his new
house.

The question of finance next engaged the attention of Pro-
fessor Rice, who was also the first to hold the honourable
office of College Bursar. To his uncle he writes, on the 27th
February, 1828:—

Upon making up the accounts for last year, we find that the
average expences of 53 men, during the first term, consisting of 16
weeks, were £28 10s. 9\d. ; and of 60 men in the second term of
18 weeks, £26 2s. 3\d.; making an average of £49 18s. Id. for
the year. The extra expences of the first year are not included,

the calculation is made to show the average annual expenditure.

•

A lithographed circular, signed by Rice Rees, was issued on
the 18th November, 1829, which gave the sums actually paid by
several of the students, in the years 1827-28, extracted from the College
ledger. One copy naturally found its way to Cascob Rectory,
and, fortunately for our purpose, is yet amongst the rector's
papers : —

1827.

£ 8. d.

Allen 52 1 6

Beavan ... ... 54 10

13

98

1828.

£ s.

d.

49 7

49 19

6

59 19

6

55 10

49 14

6

49 9

6

47 2

8

55 2

6

55 18

6

55 4

56 4

6

55 2

57 19

56 10

55 11

6

Black
Bonsall
Bowen
Davis, D.
T.

Evans, T. H,
Morgan

Davies, T. H.

Evans, T. ..

Griffiths

Hughes

Jones

Morgan

Nicholl

Owen

The items that make up the College bills, says Rice Roes, are
Tuition, Rent, Servants, Coal, Buttery, Kitchen, and Detriment Be-
sides these the sums above named include in most instances an Admis-
sion fee, some of them the rent of a double set of rooms, which is
an expense voluntarily incurred; and those for 1828, the charge
for taxes.

Gradually, as teachers and taught settled down to their work,
they began to find their level, as witness Rice to his uncle, under
date of the 28th April, 1828 :—

We have adopted some improvements, which, I dareqfy you will
think important. Th# first is a graduation of ranks in the
College. The divines of the first class in Classics are to have
a table appropriated to themselves in Hall, and to have the benefit
of the Library, under certain restrictions. The diiines of the
second class in Classics are considered such by sufferance, and are
not to enjoy any peculiar privileges. Those of the first class who
are not divines, and all of the second and third classes sit at
dinner in rotation, but are not privileged. Tliey have all their
respective seats in Chapel. This arrangement is useful for many
reasons; but more particularly to give greater dignity to a new
order of men in College, I mean assistant tutors, who are two of
the first rank appointed to assist in the instruction of the third

99

class, for which tliey are to receive a small gratuity. This is
similar to Bishop Burgess 9 original plan of Preceptors, but we
shall appoint a greater number according as it becomes expedient
The advantages of the plan at present are that six lectures, chiefly
in grammar, of the third class are taken off my hands, instead
of which I have four lectures of the second class, and one additional
lecture in Welsh. The first class is put entirely under the care of
the Principal, and the Vice-Principal is enabled to devote all his
time to Divinity and Hebrew, thus giving to each the more peculiar
studies of his own department.

Rector Rees must next take up the tale, in a letter to Vicar
Jenkins, under date of the 1st May, 1828 : —

/ visited Landovery in the last week in March, and proposed,
previous to my setting out, that should the weather, and other
circumstances be favourable, to take a trip from thence, and see my
nephew at Lampeter. Accordingly, finding it in my power, I
went over, and had the satisfaction of finding him well. As the,
students were moving off for a fortnight's vacation at Easter, there
were only fourteen then present in College, the Principal and
Vice-Principal were both absent in London on the business of
procuring the College Charter ; the delay attending the obtaining
of which had like to be attended with serious consequences to the
College. On the matter however being explained to the Vice-Chan-
cellor, the living of Llangeler was resumed, after having been given
away ; such living being one which the College was to have, after
it had its charter. The delay is said to have been in consequence
of the neglect of the person employed to prepare the charter.

A copy of the charter, written out in quarto form, and neatly
bound, is amongst the " Tonn " collection ; it is probably the
handiwork of the rector's brother, D. R. Kees, of Llandovery.

After the charter came the small-pox, which, for a short time,
disturbed " the noiseless tenor of their way." Says Kice to his
uncle, on the 28th May, 1828 : —

Last Saturday the small-pox, which has been raging in the
neighbourhood, broke out in College. After having procured the
best medical advice to be obtained here, it was determined to dis-
miss the students for a fortnight, lest the infection might spread.
We had only one decided case of the disorder [and that n]ot a
dangerous one, but others showed a predisposition towards it.

100

The only other event of this year, of which any description
seems to have been preserved, is that noting the first ordination
held in the College Chapel. Rector Rees mentions it on the
30th July, 1828, in a letter to Vicar Jenkins : —

His Lordship holds a Confirmation at Landovery on the next
day (Thursday), from whence he will probably go to Lampeter,
where he is to hold an Ordination on Sunday. The Ordination
was originally intended to have been held at Carmarthen, bit
Mr. Thorp, the examining Chaplain, being in delicate health, the
Principal amd Vice-Principal of the College were appointed eir
aminers in li his room" and the Chapel of the College fixed for
holding the Ordination, as the most convenient place. My nephew
is to receive priest's orders at the time; he is requested to be Welsh
examiner with Mr. Lewellin.

On the 25th March, 1830, Rice tells his uncle that —

The architect of the College is in consultation with the College of
Heralds about a device for a common seal for our use, without
which we cannot take legal possession of our livings. The same
device will be the arms of the College. The motto is to be " Gair
Duw goreu dysg." ... I must be here on the 21st April to be
sworn as Portreeve of Lampeter at Quarter Sessions.

The arms of the seal are a sable between four cinque foils in
cross or; a figure representing St. David standing in his archi-
episcopal robes in a niche under a canopy, holding in his dexter
hand a crosier, and in his sinister a book all gold ; together with
the motto " Gair Duw goreu dysg."

With references to two other matters of interest, the series of
letters ends. On the 21st May, 1830, Rice tells his uncle that —

"Daniel Ddu," I am told, has already obtained about 600
subscribers, for his volume of poetry, which is more than I ever
calculated upon.

Finally, on the 30th December, in the same year, he writes : —

Dr. Lewellin has contracted a matrimonial engagement with a
daughter of Geo. Smith, Esq., of Foelallt, in this county, which I
trust will prove an advantage to him, as well as an addition to the
respectability of the College.

St. David's College:
Coal of Arm".

ASTOH, L'"* v '*■
TILDC M FO'.J-*' V

FO'.J"' \~- • ' ■'• I

101

Of the Rev. Wm. Jenkins Rees, M.A., to whose care we owe,
in the first case, the preservation of most of the letters here
quoted, an engraving of his portrait in oils, by H. Hughes, will
be found prefixed to the Report of the Cymmrodorion, 1821.
He was Prebendary of Brecknock, a Fellow of the Society of
Antiquaries, and, on the 19th August, 1820, was, with his life-
long friend, the Rev. J. Jenkins, of Kerry, elected an Honorary
Member of the Cymmrodorion, or Metropolitan Cambrian Insti-
tution, "in token of the great and patriotic services which they
have rendered to the cause of Welsh Literature." His " Cambro
British Saints" must not be confounded with his nephew's
weightier and more valuable "Essay on the Welsh Saints," of
the writing of which in the town of Lampeter the inhabitants
may well be proud.

(Sartkk'* Jrknb.*

Albany Wallis (1714—1800) was once owner of the Peterwell
estates, and lord of the manor of Lampeter. Meyrick, writing
about the time or very shortly after his death, thus refers to
him : —

The last possessor [of Peterwell], John Adams Esqre., of
Whitland, nephew to Sir Herbert, spent the whole property ; and
the estate was consequently sold to Albany Wallis, whose son,
Colonel Bailey Wallis, now possesses it

Also, when speaking of DyfFryn Hoewnant, he alludes to him : —

// once belonged to the Vaughan family, but afterwards be-
came the property of Albany Wallis, Esq., and is now in
possession of Colonel Bailey Wallis.

Other than these two references to him the writer knows of
none which connect him with this part of the country, and
we must seek elsewhere for any information concerning him.
No presentments of the Court Leet for the last quarter of
the eighteenth century are forthcoming; that is, from the time
when John Adams, and his stewards, Oakley Leigh and Evan
Jenkins, gents, were playing ducks and drakes with the property,
until 1812, when Richard Hart Davies is first named as lord of
the manor, and began to evolve order from chaos. In all proba-
bility no Courts Leet were then held, and it is somewhat
significant that from 1789 to 1810 no names of any portreeves
of Lampeter are known. Sir Herbert Lloyd died by his own
hand in 1769, and no Court Leet was then held until Michael-
mas, 1773, when John Adams presides ; though he is named,
with other magistrates, at the Easter Quarter Sessions held at
Cardigan in 1770.

Albany Wallis bought Peterwell after 1776, and as he died in
1800, in the eighty-seventh year of his age, must have been

* In these short sketches the attempt is made, not so much to deal fully with the lives
of the men as to enlarge, where possible, upon their Lampeter periods. Matter included
in the "Dictionary of National Biography" and other generally available sources is not
always reproduced here. The lives are arranged in chronological order of birth. — G.E.E-

103

an old man when he came into possession of it, and could not
have lived very long to enjoy it. He was a very wealthy
London solicitor, and had his chambers in Norfolk Street, off the
Strand, on the site recently occupied by T.P.'s Weekly, and here
it was that he died on the 3rd September, 1800, leaving a
fortune of £70,000 to £80,000.

The Gentleman's Magazine^ in an obituary notice of refreshing
frankness, says that his abilities were of a very inferior kind, but
that he was so taciturn, and had so learned the policy of silence,
that the world imagined "more was meant than met the ear."
Then it goes on to say that " the only act of his life that seems
entitled to the notice of mankind was his raising a monument to
the memory of Garrick." First, however, let us have a word
about his wealth and how he disposed of it.

He left his fortune, amounting, as has just been said, to Lady
Bailey, of Pall Mall, for life, and after her death to Colonel
Bailey, her son, who took the name of Wallis. Albany Wallis
had several nephews and nieces — sister's children — and other
near relatives, in indigent circumstances. Of these he took no
other notice than by giving £500 to his heirs-at-law. Lady
Bailey, it is said, refused to act as an executrix under his will,
and Mr. Troward, his partner, likewise declined the same repre-
sentative duty, he being a claimant on the estate of £30,000.
What exactly happened I know not, nor does it matter now ;
suffice it to say that in the first decade of the nineteenth century
Colonel Bailey Wallis owned the Peterwell estate, which, by
1812, had passed into the hands of Mr. Richard Hart Davies,
who was, together with Hart Davies, both of Mortimer House,
Clifton, presented burgess at the Michaelmas Court Leet.

To Albany Wallis, and to no one else, belongs the honour of
placing in Westminister Abbey the famous monument to David
Garrick (1717—1779). Those who know the Abbey — and it
is the bounden duty of every British man to have some amount
of first hand knowledge of it — will remember the tomb at the
foot of Shakespeare's statue. The monument itself is on the
opposite wall, with this epitaph by Pratt : —

To paint fair Nature, by divine command,
Her magic pencil in his glowing hand,
A Shakespeare rose ; then, to expand his fame
Wide o'er this breathing world, a Garrick came.

t 1800, p. 908.

104

Though sunk in death the forms the Poet drew,
The Actor's genius bade them breathe anew ;
Though, like the bard himself, in night they lay,
Immortal Garrick eall'd them back to day ;
And till eternity with power sublime
Shall mark the mortal hour of hoary Time,
Shakespeare and Garrick like twin stars shall shine,
And each irradiate with a beam divine.

Truly says "John o' London" in a recent article, "It is melan-
choly to know that these trashy lines' were preferred before
an inscription written by Burke."

Edmund Burke, in his inscription — rejected, forsooth, "as too
long " — had said of Garrick in words since become famous : —
"He raised the character of his profession to the rank of a
liberal art." Charles Lamb unsparingly condemned Webber's
handiwork, with Pratt's effusion. To the Gentleman 's Magazine
the lines seemed "truly appropriate and exquisitely beautiful."
Lamb, however, wrote, " I found inscribed under this harlequin
figure a farago of false thoughts and nonsense."

Burke asked Albany Wallis to come and see what he had
composed as fit to commemorate Garrick's memory, and doubt-
less the actor's wealthy friend hied himself to Burke's door
as soon as this note reached him : —

Albany Wallis, Esq., Norfolk Street.

My dear sir. — May I beg you to call here to see an epitaph
for Gairick as soon as you can, for the Bean and Chapter are
to have it at twelve at the utmost. I showed it to Mr. Windham,
who approved it much. — / am, ever very truly yours,

Edm. Burke.
Tuesday, 29 (July), 17 H.

Wallis had lived for many years in close friendship with
Garrick, he had been one of his pall bearers at the funeral in the
Abbey, and was one of his executors. About the year 1780,
Wallis lost his only son, Albany Charles Wallis, who was
drowned in the Thames. The lad, then just fourteen years old,
was a Westminster scholar, and, with a party of his fellows, was
"bathing or sailing, or rowing" when the accident occurred.
There is a monument in the Abbey to this boy's memory, who,
had he lived, would have inherited Peterwell. Few know that
it was honest David Garrick who placed this tablet on the Abbey

105

walls. Little wonder then that the silent solicitor, bound to his
friend by these close ties, did, out of his wealth, spend £1,000
over his monument.

The censorious world, however, was not satisfied, and the
memorial was explained in various unkind ways. It was said
that Wallis had paid his addresses to Garrick's widow, and that,
being rejected, he raised the Abbey monument out of pique.
Mrs. Garrick, by the way, lived to the great age of ninety-eight,
and, forty-three years after her husband's death, was buried with
him in the Abbey, she having previously raised a monument to
his memory in Lichfield Cathedral. Some said that Wallis, by
placing the monument in the Abbey, hoped that reflections
might be thrown on Mrs. Garrick for neglecting such a tribute —
an omission which the Gentleman's Magazine> resolved to be im-
partially disagreeable, says " will entail eternal disgrace upon the
person from whom such a mark of admiration, gratitude, and
affection, was on all hands expected." However, the unknown
yet genial obituarist is of opinion that Mr. Wallis was not
the man to take any revenge that involved expense, and suggests
that his real motive was an ambition to link his name for ever
with the actor's, to " share the triumph and partake the gale " of
Garrick's renown. Be this as it may, one fact remains, that in
Albany Wallis, owner of Peterwell and lord of the manor, Lam-
peter and Westminster Abbey join hands over the grave of
Garrick.

14

a

clttabac" @ailliam0.

John Williams (1727—1798), nonconformist divine, librarian,
and writer on Welsh Indians, was a Lampeter boy, born and
reared in the town. His father was a tanner, and in all proba-
bility a nonconformist, for there is no 'entry in the Parish
Kegister of the boy having been baptized by Vicar Erasmus
Lewes. All we know of John's early years is that he kept the
anniversary of his birth on the 25th of March, and that he was
educated for college at uie "town free grammar school." No
name of the master of this period has as yet been discovered ;
but, whoever he was, he had the tanner's son under his care
until he was nineteen years of age. Then, in 1746, with the
roar of the Battles of Falkirk and Culloden in the land, the lad
left the vale of Teify for that of Towy, and was entered as a
student of the Presbyterian College, Caermarthen, having as his
theological tutor the Rev. Evan Davies, a native of Cellan, and
elder brother to the Rev. Timothy Davies, of Caeronen (p. 80).
Here, with the Rev. Samuel Thomas as his instructor in classics
and mathematics, Williams remained until 1752.*

Strong in his classics, to which, especially Greek, he had given
much attention, we find Williams, in his twenty-fifth year, and
immediately on leaving the College, appointed to the post of
classical master in the well-known school kept at Winson Green,
Birmingham, by the Rev. William Howell, also an alumnus of
the Presbyterian College, and, from 1746 to 1770, one of the
ministers of the the Old Meeting, Birmingham. This school,
says Catherine Hutton Beale, was "very large," and Howell
"distinguished for his ability and integrity as a preceptor."
His son William, in part educated by his father, was (1786 —
1795) the Principal of the College, and had amongst his children

* It may be noted in passing that Maridunensti or Cambro- Brittanica was the usual
epithet of the College or Academy in the inscriptions of the eighteenth century; e.g.,
the Latin inscription —

In uturti Ac. Mar. dedit Rev. Samuel Thomas, 1766, nuper ejusdem Acad.' Inttitutor,

which, placed on one of the College books, seems the only relic of Mr. Thomas's pen.—
G.B.B.

107

John,t vicar of Holy Trinity Church, Coventry, 1837 — 1856, and
Benjamin, rector of Hughley, Salop, 1826 — 1850.

Williams did not remain long at Winson Green, but speedily
took up ministerial work (1752) at Stamford. Here he began
the labour of many years, which resulted in the publication of
his "Concordance." This ancient Lincolnshire town, where the
Barons met to levy war against King John, is distinguished as
being the first place in England where began that most polite
recreation of bull-baiting. Williams often heard the natives tell
the story, somewhat after this manner : —

In John's reign, William, Earl of Warren, observing Two
Rival Bulls in the Castle Meadows, duelling for the same Mis-
tress of their present Affections, and that all the Town Butchers 1
Dogs allarmed by their bellowing, ran out, and fell all foul upon
one of 'em: His Honour ivas so delicately diverted with the
elegant Sport, that he gave all the Meadow to the Butcliers, on
Condition that they should find a mad Bull, 6 weeks before
Christmas, yearly for the Continuance of the Mad Pastime ; from
whence came the proverb — "Mad as a Stamford Baiting Bull."

Only for three years did Williams minister in this place — his
soul was probably vexed within him ; and, gathering up the
manuscripts of his Concordance, he passed into Berkshire, there
from 1756 to 1767, to minister at Wokingham. During these
eleven years he pursued bis literary labours, and, in 1767,
published "A Concordance to the Greek New Testament, with
an English version to each word, and short critical notes," the
notes being chiefly furnished by Prebendary Gregory Sharpe,
LL.D. Two years before the appearance of the Concordance,
the Glasgow University had honoured the compiler with its
LL.D. This was probably the first occasion on which a Lam-
peter man had been thus distinguished by this ancient seat of
learning.

The next twenty-eight years (1767 — 1795) were lived at
Sydenham, as minister there to a congregation of Protestant

t Married twice. His first wife, Mary, widow of the Rev. John Waltham, and dau. of
Wm. Fletcher, was great aunt to the Rev. Wm. Geo. Dimock Fletcher, M.A., F.S.A., of
Shrewsbury, under whose honorary secretaryship the Shropshire Parish Register Society
has made that steady progress which from its foundation has been characteristic of it.
Vicar John was not always on the happiest of terms with some of his Coventry parish-
ioners. His distraint for tithe on a butcher was long remembered, and vestry meetings
for a period concluded with a song and chorus, none too complimentary to the vicar. —
— G.E.E.

10$

Dissenters, a post he held until this latter year, when, "finding
his congregation decreasing, and lease of chapel having expired,
he resigned." In 1777 he was also appointed to the honourable
office of librarian of Dr. Williams's Library, founded under the
will (1711) of the Kev. Daniel Williams, D.D. (Edin.). At this
time there was no public library in London except Archbishop
Tenison's, which had recently been established, and which, in
lieu of any provision for its maintenance and enlargement, has
long since been closed. Opened in 1729, in a "mansion" erected
for its use in Red Cross Street, London, Dr. Williams's Library
has taken its place as one of the most valuable in the metro-
polis, and to-day, housed in Gordon Square, its collection of
some 25,000 books and tracts, its 600 MSS., and its lines of
portraits of divines and other personages — amongst them being
one of this Lampeter man — are sought out and consulted by an
ever-increasing body of students and writers. The real founda-
tion of this library was the purchase by Dr. Williams, in 1699,
of the collection of books formed by his friend, Dr. Bates, rector
of St. Dunstan's-in-the-West. Its chief treasure, from the biblio-
graphical point of view, is its tall copy of the first folio of
Shakespeare. | Its manuscripts include a small Psalter of 199
leaves, dating from the thirteenth century ; but to most people
the gem of the collection will be a little volume of George
Herbert's, a part of which is in the poet's handwriting, and
which is believed to be the one he sent to Nicholas Ferrar — it
came from Little Gidding. Over this library the tanner's son
presided until 1782, when he was appointed one of Dr. Williams's
Trustees, a post he held until 1790, some eight years before his
death at Canonbury, which occurred on the 15th April, 1798.

"Madoc" Williams wrote two treatises on the Welsh tradition
anent the discovery of America; the first, published in 1791,
bears the title, "An Enquiry into the Truth of the Tradition
Concerning the Discovery of America by Prince Madog, ab
Owen Gwynedd, about the year 1170." The next year came
"Farther Observations." Copies of the two, bound in one
volume, will be found m St. David's College Library, being
amongst the gift to it of the Rev. Edward Davies, author of

X Another treasure, at present musing, was its copy of John Penry's "Aequity of an
humble supplication," 1587 ; the only other copies now known being in the libraries of
the British Museum, Bodley, and the University, Cambridge. Its collection of silver
Communion plate is described in Antiquarian Notes, hi., p. 6.— 6.B.B.

109

"Celtic Researches." "Madoc's" literary style may be judged
from these extracts : —

The Inhabitants of some parts, it is said had a Book
among them, upon which they set a great value, though
they could not read it. This Book seems to have been a
Wekh Bible, because it was found in the Hands of a people
who spoke Welsh, and because Mr. Jones could read and
understand it. This Circumstance is of great Weight in
the debate. For whether this Book was a Welsh Bible
or not, it actually proves that the Natives of that County
where the Book was found, had been on the Continent
many Ages, and could not be the descendants of a Colony
planted there After the discovery of Columbus in 1492.
No written Language or Alphabetical Characters can be
totally forgotten by any people, within the space of 160 or
170 years, which was the period that intervened between
the discovery of Columbus, and Mr. Jones' visit.

In the preface to his second book he says : —

What is here added, in my opinion, will demonstrate that
on this day there exists a Tribe or Tribes of Indians in
North America, who speak the Welsh Language, and also
that they are descended from Prince Madog's Company who
sailed Westward about the year 1170.

One other work from his pen deserves notice — his " Free En-
quiry into the authenticity of the First and Second Chapters of
St. Matthew's Gospel"; London, 1771, second edition 1789.
This " Enquiry " drew forth several replies, including one from
the Rev. Charles Bulkley (1719 — 1797), General Baptist minister
of the Barbican, London, "a man of great learning and unwearied
industry." Archbishop William Magee (1766 — 1831) likewise
saw fit to notice it, by replying in the second volume of his
"Discourses on the Scriptural Doctrine of the Atonement," 1801.

The story of " Madoc's " life from the days when he sat on the
benches of Lampeter Grammar School to the time when he
aroused interest in the Welsh Indians — 'tis said that Southey
was thereby stimulated to write his " Madoc " — is one for which
no apology is needed in placing him on the roll of Lampeter's
men of note and learning.

<B. o |Canbcbr.

Eliezer Williams (1754—1820), vicar of Lampeter, re-founder
of its Grammar School, and genealogist, was the eldest of the
three sons of the Rev. Peter Williams, of Welsh Bible Com-
mentary fame, whose life, it is said, was hastened to its close by
the action of the Calvinistic Methodists, who, " in a body with-
drew their support" they had promised to his publication of
Cann's Bible, with notes, "assigning as their reason, a change
in the editor's sentiments as to the doctrine of the Trinity ;
although such was by no means the fact. They left him to bis
own resources. Not contented with this, they shut their doors
against him, and excluded him from their assemblies. By this
cruel transaction he lost six or seven hundred pounds." Truly
is it recorded on his tombstone at Llandefeilog, He received in
return only ingratitude and persecution.

To his father Eliezer owed much, to his mother more. She
was the daughter of Morgan Jenkins, a gentleman of small
landed property, living at Gors, in the parish of Llanarthney,
and knew enough Latin to be able to examine her son in that
language in his holidays. His boyhood was a healthy, happy
time. He could kick a football in a scientific way, was an adept
at fives, and, in swimming, so proficient as to have been able to
float down river Towy for several miles without landing, as well
as to rescue a fisherman who had fallen out of his coracle. An
incident in his school life at Caermarthen may be new to some
readers. One night, just as St. Peter's Church clock struck
twelve, as Eliezer was working over his " Prep " for next day's
class, he was interrupted by an unusual noise in the house. Be-
fore he could speculate on the cause of the disturbance, the door
of his room suddenly opened, and in stalked a tall figure
wrapped in a sheet, and having his features concealed in a
hideous mask, while it uttered undistinguishable and frightful
sounds, that might seem to be those of a voice not of this world.
In the first instance he was astounded at the intruder's appear-
ance, but after a moment's reflection he sprang from his seat,
raising himself into an erect posture, and grasping a missile

Ill

which lay on the table, hurled it at the apparition with so true
an aim as to bring it to the ground, and at once proved that
it was no unearthly visitor. Little wonder, then, that Kice
Rees, and Daniel Ddu, and Quaker David Joel Jenkins, and the
great army of his Lampeter scholars, had for their master a
passionate love and a profound respect.

Instead of quiet curacies for the early years of his ministry,
he accepted with alacrity an offered appointment of chaplain on
board H.M.S. " Cambridge," at the critical time of the breaking
out of hostilities between Great Britain and France. Between
1780 and 1784, he saw a deal of active service, under Admiral
Keith Stewart. He was an eye-witness of the sinking of the
"Royal George" at Spithead in 1782,*

When Kempenfelt went down
With twice four hundred men.

Through the interest of the Earl of Galloway, whose chaplain
he became, and to whose family he was tutor, Eliezer was pre-
sented, in 1784, by Lord Chancellor Thurlow, to the small
vicarage of Caio-cum-Llansawel, not far from Pibwr, his native
place, in Caermarthenshire. For the next twelve years he was
busily engaged, at the Earl's particular request, in the investi-
gation of his pedigree, for the purpose of establishing his lord-
ship's claim to the English peerage. Ultimately his labours were
crowned with success, and on the 31st May, 1796, the Gazette
published this notice: — "John, Earl of Galloway, K.T., created
peer of England, with the title of Baron Stewart of Garlies, in
the stewartry of Kircudbright." About 1794, there had been
published "A Genealogical account of Lord Galloway's family,"
by Eliezer Williams.

After a short period spent as chaplain to the garrison of
Tilbury fort, Bishop Burgess offered him the vicarage of Lam-
peter, to which he was collated on the 14th July, 1805 ; here
he brought his family, and entered upon a period of untiring,
strenuous work, which, long before his death, made him beloved
by all his parishioners and friends. On the 20th August, 1816,
he was collated to the Prebend of Llanddewi Aberarth, founded
in the Cathedral Church of St. David's, vacant by the death of

* It may perhaps be permissible for the writer to say that, in 1840, his maternal grand-
father, Commander George Eyre Powell, R.N., was present at the memorable blowing up
of the wreck; and, moreover, that it can still be said, with Cowper, " Her timbers yet
are sound," for on a table made entirely of them this chapter is being written.— G.E.E.

112

the Rev. William Higgs Barker, vicar of St. Peter's, Caer-
marthen.

Dr. Burgess had received important assistance from Vicar
Eliezer, as we may now term him, in his controversy with the
Rev. Thomas Belsham, the Unitarian minister of Essex Street
Chapel, London, between whom and the Bishop, in spite of their
theological differences, there existed a friendship of such warmth
as to warrant Belsham writing, a few months before his death,
to a friend, in a letter, the original of which is now before
me: —

8th March, 1821.

My controversial days are over. I must have the Scriptures to
speak for themselves, and must transfer controversy to the rising
generation. I have not even leisure to reply to my old friend the
Bishop of St. David? s, who has made a new attack, I cannot say
with renewed arguments, upon Dr. Carpenter and me.

Vicar Eliezer had also taken a small part in controversy with
Dr. Priestley, as to the doctrines of the early Christian Church.

Many years prior to the advent of Vicar Eliezer, Lampeter
had enjoyed the educational benefits of a Grammar School in
the town. About 1737, John Williams ("Madoc" Williams)
was a scholar at "the town free grammar school." In 1789, the
Rev. Job Harris was "master of Lampeter Grammar School,"
followed in the same capacity by Mr. Rees Charles Edmund
(1797), and the Rev. Arthur Williams (1799), "for fifty years a
faithful minister of the Presbyterian order," as says his grave-
stone in the churchyard. He is known to have prepared scholars
for the Presbyterian College, Caermarthen, whence they pro-
ceeded direct to Holy Orders. So far researches fail to reveal
whether this old school had actually ceased by the time that
Vicar Eliezer came to the town, but certain is it that he
immediately began to teach in the vicarage, which, being in
too dilapidated a state to occupy as a place of residence, the
Bishop allowed him to convert into a schoolroom, and to call
it a " Licensed Grammar School."

The "Tonn" manuscripts have amongst the letters many
written by one of his most distinguished pupils, Rice Rees,
afterwards the Welsh professor at St. David's College, and
author of the "Welsh Saints." Rees entered Lampeter Gram-
mar School on the 2nd February, 1819, and forthwith began a

113

correspondence with his uncle, the Rev. William Jenkins Rees,
rector of Cascob. Many of these letters are in the " Tonn " col-
lection, and their chatty contents give us a splendid series
of word pictures of Lampeter, Vicar and Headmaster Eliezer,
Principal Lewellin, and the early days of the College.

Before long " the rapid increase of scholars and the number of
applications for the admission of pupils was so great, that he felt
himself under the necessity of removing to a more commodious
house which had been recently built, and in which he continued
to reside for the rest of his life." Some lads boarded with him,
others lodged where they could in the town and parish. Of
these arrangements we have a glimpse in 1818, when, on the
17th December, David R. Rees, of Llandovery, writes to his
brother, Rector Rees, of Cascob : —

Sister Sarah and me went over to Lampeter on Tuesday, and
returned yesterday. Agreeable with your recommendation, sister
agreed with Mr. Thomas Dairies, the Shop-keeper, for the board
and lodging for Rice at £26 per annum, exclusive of washing,
which will be about 10s. per quarter. We know Mrs. Dairies, she
is a daughter of Sally Wm. Harry, that kept the Bakehouse, next
door to the " Nag's Head " in this town, some years ago, therefore
you may probably recollect her mother if not her. She is married
to her second husband, and has 3 children, they live very com-
fortable the price is thought high, but it is lower than

Mr. Williams's, which is ££0, including schooling. Mr.
Williams was gone to Ireland to settle some affairs, after the
death of his father-in-law, consequently I did not see him ; but I
enquired of Mr. Jenkins's father (the " 8 Horse Shoes," where we
pat up), and he told me that Mr. Williams's terms for Day
Scholars were a guinea a quarter, and a guinea entrance.

In August, 1819, the scholars numbered eighty, and the
classes twelve, of which Mr. Williams hearkens six, Mr. Hughes,
the Usher three, and Mr. Evans, another usher, three. The Divinity
Stvdents number fifteen. Here is a day in the school's life : —

The manner in which I proceed at present is this. At 7 in the
morning I go to school, and say my Exercise, and repeat part of
the Latin Grammar ; then I return at 9 to breakfast. I then
go at half-past ten and say a lesson in Analecta, with another in
the Greek Grammar ; then I make a few sums in Arithmetic, and

15

114

return at one. I afterwards go at four and say a lesson in
Virgil, and return at six. On Thursday evening, instead of
Virgil, we learn geography and arithmetic. On Saturday we
also say the Church catechism ; and four of us, chosen the Satur-
day before, rehearse a speech. Prayers are read in the School by
the Ushers twice a day. Wednesday is generally a holy day, if
not we learn arithmetic. There is no particular plan followed,
nor order kept in the School; nor have we any stated time to
go there ; all that is required of a boy in this case is that he
would be there to say his lesson with his class-fellows. We
all learn our lessons at home, and go to school to say them.

This then was the time table and the routine for a lad of fifteen,
under Vicar Eliezer in 1819.

A few months after came the death of the vicar, and hear
again let Bice tell the tale : —

•o*

He died about six o'clock in the evening of Thursday, the 20th
January [1820] ; he was confined to his bed for a month before,
but maintained the use of his faculties to the last, and on the day
of his departure, seeing his children in the room crying, he said —
" when I saw you first you were crying, when I shall see you last
you will be crying, crying you will go through the world,, but I
hope you will go out of it laughing." He has left five children,
the eldest under age. I went over to Lampeter last Friday,
accompanied by four of my schoolfellows, to attend his funeral,
which was to take place the day following. He was buried in the
vault under the chancel in Lampeter Church, where five of his
family had been buried before. He was borne by six of his senior
scholars, his funeral was attended by his sister, and four of
his children (his brother not being able to attend); and a great
number of gentlemen, clergymen, and scholars. The Rev. Mr.
Bowen, of Waunifor, performed the Burial Service, and preached
an impressive sei % mon from Luke xii. 87. . . . The Ushers intend
carrying on the sclwol, until a Master can be secured, but as they
cannot teach the higher classes, a great number of the scholars
must still be without a teacher.

Another glimpse is afforded us of Vicar Eliezer and his death
in a letter from D. R. Rees, of Llandovery, to his brother at
Cascob : —

115

The Rev. Eliezer Williams, of Lampeter died of a

broken heart on Thursday Rice said that Mr. Williams

educated ten or a dozen boys gratis, which of course are left
friendless.

Hassall, one of the ushers, more than did his duty. He bad

won the boys' hearts, and when news came to him of his father's

death from the plague, he had to leave amidst universal regrets.

Some of the senior boys wrote farewell addresses in prose and

verse in his album ; and as a sample of what a Lampeter school

boy did then, the lines written by Rice Rees on the occasion are

here quoted : —

AD AMICUM.

! dilecte Hassall, gratus mihi semper amicus,

Quam sum fraterno p'essus amore tui

Nos quamvis o?quor ventosis dividet undis,

Semper exit nobis inviolata fides.

Jam vale ! qucesitas venias securus in oras

Et tutos servet teque tuosque Deus.

— Amicus Lampetenensis.

The names of more than a hundred of his scholars are pre-
served by his son in " The English Works " of his father. It is
of interest to know that the prize list, in 1818, notes Rice Rees
as the successful writer of Latin verses on the "Beauties of
Spring"; and that to Thomas Hassall, son of the Rev. Mr.
Hassall, Paramatta, New South Wales, fell the honour for the
best abridgment of a sermon. Could the programme of the
11 recitations " that year be beaten in Lampeter to-day ? Thirty
items preceded a performance of Terence's "Comedy of Eunu-
chus" in the Town Hall. Here are some of them from the
list : —

John Lloyd, recited Exodus xx., and some of the Psalms,

" with Rabbinical precision."
Geo. A. Harries, Miltiades' Address to Callimachus, before

the Battle of Marathon, from the Greek of Herodotus.

D 'mT^ 8 ' 1 ^ ch 3 or 4 chaps ' fr0m Greek Testa "

tV r» ^xcfi?' • I ment.

D. Griffith, junr., J

Wm. Davis, \ Pyramus and Thisbe, in Latin from Ovid's

Dd. Davies, J Metamorphoses.

116

W. H. Miller, Voltaire's description in French of the Mas-
sacre of the Protestants.
Maurice Atterbury, ]

Henry Jenkins, J- Juba and Syphax from Addison's

— Evans, j Cato.

David iTSSgan, } BrutU8 ' and Ca88iu8 ' QuarreL

Thos. Jones, sen., 250 lines Dr. Young's Night Thoughts.

Rice Rees, Gray's Elegy.

Alban T. T. Gwynne, "aged eight years," about 200 lines

Addison's Poetry.
Thos. Jones, jun., "son of Hugh* Jones, Esq., Lampeter,"

John Gilpin's Ride.
Thos. Hassall, ^ Dialogue between Owen Glendwr and
David Jones, / Henry Hotspur, Shakspeare.

Daniel Evans, Recited one of Dr. Blair's Sermons, "great

applause."
John Bowen, Recited in Welsh, sermon by Evans, Pi-ydydd

Hir ; "correctness and animation."

The presentation of such a programme as this, and the manner
in which the recitations were rendered, were due in no small
degree to the .practice obtained at the Pythagorean Society, a
school institution which met weekly at this period for the
purpose of discussing various moral, historical, and scientific
questions.

A word must now be said about the plays acted from 1813 to
1819. The series opened with a representation of Mrs. Hannah
More's " Sacred Dramas." These were so much approved that
they were followed up with the "Comedies of Terence." In
1814 "Andria" was staged in the Town Hall, just before the
Christmas vacation ; a prologue, spoken by Watkin William
Thomas, opening with the lines : —

There are those who evidently deem us wrong,
T' attempt a drama in an unknown tongue ;
But that sole circumstance may prove the cause
Of sure success, and gain us your applause.

Next year "Phormio" was presented, amongst the audience
being a large party from Ystrad Meurig Grammar School. We
are told that "many good judges . . . attended with the
classical work in their hands." Phormio was taken by W. W.

1 117

Thomas, and Sophrono by David Joel Jenkins. The vicar, who
wrote the prologues and epilogues, knew human nature : —

But if you ladies can't the whole discern,
Why tnen, I think, our language you must learn ;
You'll soon, I have no doubt, apt scholars prove,
How easy 'tis to say, — Amo, I love.

" The Adelphi " was presented in 1816, John Jenkins, sen., the
head boy, speaking the prologue : —

The play to-night —

'Twas fetch'd from Athens, it will make you chuckle —
'Twas dearly bought — ere to our task we d buckle,
It cost us many a rap across the knuckle.

The last of this series, truly a most remarkable one to be
given successfully in a small town, then almost unknown to the
world, was " Eunuch us," performed in 1818. Daniel Evans
(Daniel Ddu) as Antipho " was admirable in the scene between
him and Chaerea." After the play, " for the benefit of that part
of the audience which was not conversant with the Latin lan-
guage, the moral and popular after-piece of * High Life below
Stairs ' was given in great style." Of this side of the happy life
which then characterised this school, and of these plays, we
will say with the Headmaster, when he makes Pythias tell Par-

meno —

'Twere well the gay world was as void of harm.

Of Eliezer Williams as vicar of the parish much could be said:
he was the friend of all around him, and the central figure in the
social life of the place. To him his neighbours went with all
their troubles. Documents in his handwriting, now before me,
show him in divers lights.

John Evans, a discharged soldier, formerly in the 23rd Foot,
lives in the parish and needs to claim some prize money. He
seeks the vicar, who questions him, and certifies that he is the
right man, and entitled to the money.

David Saunders appears personally before him, says he is a
bachelor, twenty-one years of age, and wants to marry Widow
Margaret Jenkins. The vicar clears the way, and the couple are
made happy.

The regimental colours of the Upper Tivy Local Militia are to
be consecrated ; the vicar, as the learned chaplain of the corps
delivered a sermon appropriate to the occasion..

118

*

On the 17th June, 1814, he is to be seen in our little town,
which mil be in a blaze to-night. The Cardiganshire militia are
returned home, and we are going to illuminate for the late news of our
successes abroad.

The vicar is dying, to the chamber comes the messenger from
his friend and contemporary schoolmaster, Davis of Gastell
Hywel, bearing a tender greeting. Grasping his hand, the vicar
says — Put your hand into Mr. Davis 1 hand instead of me, as a token
of that higher and more spiritual union, which we shall ere long enjoy
together.

As a poet, he takes no mean place in Welsh, Latin, and
English literature. His "Awdl orchestol addysgiadol i Seren
Gomer " is well known. It is written in the twenty-four Welsh
metres, the initial letter of every metre being one of the twenty-
four letters of the alphabet. He says of it : —

J wrote the ode in praise of "Seren Gomer" too hastily, without
a grammar or an example before me, from an idea that it would
give me weight with the editors of the paper, and that it would
enduce them to find a place for my compositions. It may have
had that effect in some measure, as my productions are always
admitted. But some few errors in the Mesurau Caethion, have
unfortunately given " Tegid," and some of the minor bards a little
temporary advantage over me. I am willing now, however, to
recover that ground if possible, and to flog them in verse as well
as in prose.

Whether or not he did flog them, the writer is not competent to
say ; certain is it he tried. The original manuscript of the
" Awdl," in the vicar's handwriting, dated Llanbedr Bont Ysty-
phan, Ionor yr Sin, 1814, is not the least treasured amongst
others in the collection gathered together by the author, where
it keeps company with the holograph of " Cywydd y Winwydden,"
also by E. o Lanbedr.

His " Historical Anecdotes relative to the energy, beauty, and
melody of the Welsh language," is an essay which might with
advantage be reprinted and circulated in every school in Wales.

The accounts of Lampeter and Caio which he contributed
to Carlisle's "Topographical Dictionary of Wales"* are at once

* Nicholas Carlisle published this Dictionary in 1811, and though (as stated in a note
oh the half-title) intended as the fourth volume of the "Topographical Dictionary
of England and Ireland," 1808-10, it was issued a& a separate work. There is no

THE ./A/ YORK

ASTOH, LTNOX AND
Til o: ,.' ro:jf!PAT;"r,'S.

119

brief and accurate. On that of Lampeter has been founded
every subsequent article which deals with the history of the
town.

The "great eminence," says his son, the Rev. St. George
Armstrong Williams, to which his father's school rose, was
"mainly instrumental in leading the bishop and his coadjutors
to fix upon Lampeter as more desirable" than Llanddewi Brefi
as the site for St. David's College. The vicar, however, was not
permitted to see the accomplishment of his heart's desire. His
article on the "Choice of Masters for the College," judging
from the draft, is one in which he deals with force on the
absolute necessity of " a wise selection " of teachers and " a cor-
rect and critical acquaintance with the language of the country,"
for, says he, " where the reputation of such teachers as scholars
and as Christians has been high, they have formed a university
in a desert, whilst presidents of an opposite character have
created a desert in a university."

On the tablet placed in the parish church to his memory
by his scholars are four lines composed by Daniel Ddu, which
may fitly end this chapter: —

Oedd anwyl i'w gyd-ddynion,
Anwyl yw yn nheulu Ion ;
Holl lu y nef Uawen £nt
O'i roddi'n gymmar iddynt.

pagination, but the Lampeter article begins on the verso of signature of Hh, and ends on
verso of Hh2. The article was reprinted in the "Memoir of Rev. Eliezer Williams,"
1840, pp. lvii-lx.

S&alsall's §tndutov.

Thomas Bowen (1766 — 1852) was a Lampeter born man of
whom little is known by the general reader, though it is just
possible that he or his death may yet be remembered by a few
of its most elderly natives. His claim to be included in our

fallery is that he was the founder both of the Walsall General
library and of the first Sunday school in that saddle-making
town.

His parents lived at or close to Lampeter, where, in 1766,
their son Thomas first saw light. After a short while spent at
the Lampeter Grammar School, we find him becoming one of the
scholars of Davis, Castell Hywel, a fact of value as witnessing to
the truth of the statement that parents who were good Church-
people frequently placed their sons with this redoubtable non-
conforming minister for the greater part, and often-times the
whole, of their tuition.

Bowen, in accordance with the wishes of his father, and his
own convictions at that time, was desirous of taking orders —
candidates for ordination passing direct from Davis hands to
those of the Bishop of St. David's, who accepted such men, and
gratefully too, knowing he could rely upon the thoroughness and
high standard of their classical training. Bowen was one of the
first of the many generations of boys to enter the school actually
at Castell Hywel, where Davis, then a young man and recently
married, settled in the year 1783. Bowen probably lived under
his master's roof as a weekly boarder, walking home every
Saturday and returning early on Monday. His name appears
amongst the many old boys who subscribed for copies of " Telyn
DewP in 1824.

On leaving school, about the year 1790, his biographer in the
Christian Reformer * says he " had proceeded so far as to apply to
the Bishop of St. David's, Samuel Horsley, with a view to his
ordination/' Whilst the necessary arrangements were being
made, Bowen one evening was introduced to the minister of the
Presbyterian congregation at Caeronen, the Rev. Evan Davies,

«

* 1852, p. 824.

121

"by whose conversation he was led to reconsider his religious
principles," with the result that he abandoned his intention of
taking orders, and sought admission as a student to the Pres-
byterian College, then located at Swansea. Here he remained
from 1790 to 1794, under the tutorship of the Rev. William
Howell.

With all the world before him, Bowen sought his first minis-
terial settlement, and ere many weeks had elapsed after leaving
college, he was chosen as minister of the congregation wor-
shipping in the Old Meeting-house, Walsall, from which, but a
short time previously, the Rev. Benjamin Davis (brother to
Davis, Castell Hywel) had retired, only to settle near by at
Evesham. At that time there was a small colony of learned
Welshmen ministering to divers congregations in the Midlands,
Bowen found there as his neighbours, Davis at Evesham ; Ben-
jamin Maurice, a Pembrokeshire man, at Alcester; John Jones at
Bewdley ; David Jones, of Bwlch-y-gwynt, at Birmingham, in the
pulpit which Dr. Priestley had but recently vacated ; Josiah
Corrie, an alumnus of the Presbyterian College, at Kenil worth ;
Lewis Loyd, of Cwmyto — afterwards the father of Baron Over-
stone — had just been doing temporary duty at Shrewsbury ;
Thomas Jenkins was at Whitchurch ; and Samuel Griffiths, who
had been one of David Davis's assistants at Llwynrhydowen, had
long been settled at Wolverhampton.

Walsall, at the time of Bowen's settlement, was a rural town,
devoted to the manufacture of spurs, bridle-bits, stirrups, and
buckles: the leather trade was developed during his lifetime.
Here, we are told by the town topographer, in 1759, "is dug
that best sort of iron ore which they call * Mush/ which contains
that sweet, cool liquor which workmen are so fond of." Here,
too, was then yearly distributed, "on Epiphany-eve, a dole of Id.
to every person in the town, strangers and all." His congrega-
tion had been founded late in the seventeenth century, and had
passed through stormy times. In 1710, the chapel had been
destroyed in one of those riots which marked the reign of Queen
Anne ; it was a building like some old Cardiganshire churches,
with heavy outside shutters, and inside was a "pulpit which
stood ready with a curtain to be drawn before the preacher, and
a door behind him leading on to the roof, to facilitate his escape,
should. spies or informers intrude upon the services." Partially
wrecked again in 1743, during the violent scenes which occurred

16

122

when John Wesley first visited the town, the restored building
was next, in part, pulled down by a mob in 1751, when certain
of the ringleaders were tried for the offence at the assizes, and
fined £10. The meeting-house, at the same time, was ordered to
be* rebuilt again, but further from the parish church. At this time
one David Jones was the minister, and a tough customer he was
in asserting the rights of his congregation freely to worship God.
The magistrates liked not this Welshman, and, when he died in
1762, hoped that Walsall would know Wales no more. Their
rejoicing, however, was but of short duration, for within a few
weeks another Welshman was chosen as minister, in the person
of Noah Jones, a Caermarthenshire man, who lived and worked
here until his death, just twenty-two years later.

Except for three years spent as minister at Ilminster — where
the second of his two daughters died in 1822 — the whole of
Bowen's working years was spent at Walsall, where, from 1794
to 1838, he was engaged in the active duties of his ministry, and
from his retirement in this latter year to his death on the
25th January, 1852, in promoting the growth, consolidation, and
progress of the town library.

No Sunday school existed at Walsall when Bowen settled
there. His immediate predecessors, Noah Jones and Thomas
Ebenezer Beasley, had conducted "very respectable" day schools,
but it was left to this Lampeter man to lead the way in the
matter of Sunday schools. Soon, that started by the Old
Meeting was followed by other congregations in the town, and
it is noteworthy that from this first Sunday school afterwards
came the secretary of the Anti-Corn-Law League, in the person
of James Hickin, one of the school teachers and a member of
the congregation. The year of Bowen's death was likewise that
of the settlement of the late Edward Myers, F.G.S., as minister
of the congregation, and of him the memorial is the Walsall Free
Press, the oldest local newspaper, of which he was originator and
first editor. It is probably unique in the annals of a single
congregation — one which had been abominably persecuted by
some of its townspeople — that it should in return lead the way
in the Sunday school, library, and newspaper movements.

The only things Bowen committed to the press were an
English Grammar, and a small book explaining the method of
describing the lines of latitude and longitude on paper, by
means of an instrument which he invented for the purpose,

123

an account of which is given by Dr. Abraham Rees in his
Encyclopaedia.

May God speed the coming of that day when Bo wen's example
at Walsall shall be followed by Lampeter, and his native town
own and use a "public library worthy the parish and its in-
habitants.

u

Jl Jdthful JKtttistcr in the l^rrb."

The Jeremy family, now hardly known outside Caermarthen-
shire and a few great centres of trade in England, was originally
of Continental stock. In the thirteenth century, for instance,
the Geremii formed a powerful faction in the north of Italy,
where their exploits in connection with Bologna are duly re-
corded by poet and historian. Some of them must have been
soldiers of fortune in the armies of the Norman kings, and it
is probably from one of these that all the British representatives
are derived.

In early English records the name usually appears in a,
shortened form, but with lofty surroundings; and the first
individual in the family pedigree is Sir John Jenny, Kt. (1250),
who married Margaret, daughter and co-heiress of Roger de
Bigot, Earl Marshal of England and Duke of Norfolk. Norfolk*
and the adjoining county of Suffolk remained the seat of the
Jermys for at least fifteen generations, more particularly in
connection with Metfield and Bavfield, which were hereditary
manors. Are not their glories celebrated by Blomefield ?

One member of the family settled in the Channel Islands,
where he became the progenitor of J. A. Jeremiet (1802 —
1872), sometime regius professor of divinity at the University
of Cambridge, and founder of the Septuagint Prizes.

Along the principal line, nine knights and three esquires
carry down the succession until the middle of the seventeenth
century, when William, fourth son of Sir Thomas Jermy, K.B.,
after following Charles I. into Scotland, retired to Wales, ulti-
mately establishing himself, about 1645, at Alltdanygof, in Caer-
marthenshire. He was the original of the Welsh branch, and
was the great-grandfather of David Jeremy, of Cwmynys, who,

* See Dictionary of National Biography for Isaac Jermy, 1789—1848, recorder of
Norwich, and his son, Isaac Jermy Jermy, both murdered by John Blomfleld Rush, at
the family residence of Stanneld Hall, Norfolk. — 6.E.E.

t On the " Register of Blundell's School," Tiverton, will be found the name of James
[Amiraux] Jeremie, s. of James Jeremie, merchant, Guernsey, who entered this famed
Devonian School on the 15th August. 1816, and remained there till the 29th June, 1820.
He succeeded Dr. Ollivant in his chair as regius professor of divinity at Cambridge, and
died dean of Lincoln. Another member of the family, also at Blundell's School, 1808—
1811, was John, s. of John Jeremie, of Guernsey, Esquire. — G.E.E.

125

by his wife, Sarah, the daughter of Daniel Davies, Esq., of
Blackbush, became the father of the Rev. John Jeremy, the
subject of the present sketch.

John Jeremy (1782 — 1860), the only son of parents in easy
circumstances, was early designed for one of the learned pro-
fessions. His father was a nonconformist, and connected with
the Independent congregation of Panteg, of which the son, at
a somewhat early age, became a member. Amongst many
relatives, members of the Church of England, were his uncles,
the Revs. John Jeremy, of Moorlinch, and William Jeremy, of
Chard, who urged him to conform and take orders. On the
other hand, his own minister, who had deservedly great in-
fluence with his people, strongly dissuaded him from taking that
step. The actual decision to remain a nonconformist was, says
his son, the late Rev. Daniel Davies Jeremy, M.A., of Dublin,
" a conversation he had with his pastor, at this period of doubt
and indecision, when the question of his conforming was under
consideration ; how his friend discoursed at large on * Election/
* Predestination/ and graphically described the torments of hell ;
and how he himself, though a young man of correct morals,
came away from that interview feeling sadly there was little
chance of his being 'saved* in any case, and none whatever if
he conformed."

For some years the lad had been a pupil with one of Car-
diganshire^ learned sons, the Rev. David Peter, at his Grammar
School at Caermarthen, and was well prepared for entrance to
any college, when he elected to study for the ministry among
nonconformists. Not at once did young Jeremy decide to place
his name on the books of the Presbyterian College. His friends,
it is surmised, did not regard that venerable institution as suffi-
ciently orthodox — Mr. Peter, the theological tutor, being a
moderate Calvinist, and his colleague, the Rev. David Davies,
of Llanybri, an Arian, if not something more.

The Wrexham Academy, then under the care of the Rev. Dr.
Jenkin Lewis, was eventually selected, and thither he was sent.
His stay there was of the briefest : an uncontrollable home-
sickness seized him, which led to his sudden departure within
one fortnight of his entrance. To his home he must and did
return.

Within a year he was admitted (1804) to the Presbyterian
College, Caermarthen, where he studied for four years. His

126

fellow students included David Lewis Jones, afterwards to be-
come one of the college tutors ; Evan Owen Jones, minister at
Duffield for sixty years ; Timothy Davis, who ministered at Old-
bury, 1812 — 1845 ; David Davis, afterwards theological tutor of
his college; Griffith Roberts, of Warminster, 1808 — 1825; David
Peter Davies (a nephew of the Rev. 1). Peter), author of the
"History of Derbyshire"; and John Evans, of Brechfa Gothi,
minister at Caermarthen, and uncle of the late Alcwyn Caryni
Evans, antiquary and genealogist. The last three became Uni-
tarian while at Mr. Peter's Grammar School, where, and at the
college, " there appears to have been a great deal of theological
discussion amongst the young men, opinions ranging from high
Calvinism to Unitarianism."

It was during Jeremy's stay at the college that he began
to modify his religious opinions, his fellow students regarding
him and David Lewis Jones as leaning towards Arminianism — in
those days considered a grave departure from the "orthodox
faith." On the advice of his tutor, the Rev. David Davies,
of Llanybri, Jeremy opened a school in that village so soon as he
left college, and here he successfully taught until he accepted an
invitation to London, where he had many relatives in affluent
circumstances, including Henry Jeremy, recorder of Woking,
and George Jeremy, author of "Equity and Jurisprudence of
Chancery." Here he saw much that was new and highly in-
structive to him, and, through the kindness of his kinsfolk, he
enjoyed social intercourse with cultured and interesting people.

Returning to Wales, he became private tutor in the family of
Mr. Williams, of Saethon, near Pwllheli, and there he continued
until he accepted an invitation to be the minister of Salem Inde-
pendent congregation at Llandovery. On the 20th April, 1815,
he was ordained, the "charge" being delivered by his former
tutor, the Rev. David Peter. At Llandovery he found himself
welcomed by the Tonn family, David Rees, its head, being one
of the deacons of the chapel. The first baptism by Jeremy was
that of his grandson, Theophilus Rees (1815), and ere long we
find the cultured young minister employed as tutor to Rice
Rees, whose studies he directed for some four years, prior to the
lad coming under the care of Vicar Eliezer Williams. To the
Salem congregation Jeremy ministered until his marriage with
Elizabeth, widow of the Rev. Evan Davies, of Caeronen, and
eldest daughter of Mr. Walter Davies, of Maespwll.

127

On resigning his charge at Llandovery, Jeremy went to
reside at Cwrabedw, near Lampeter, and within a year he
accepted (1819) an invitation from the Presbyterian congregation
at Caeronen, which then consisted of Arminians and Arians — a
connection which lasted, with mutual happiness, until 1845.
Once settled at Cwmbedw, he resumed school-keeping, and con-
tinued teaching, for which he had great aptitude, almost to the
end of his days. Many a youth in straitened circumstances at
Lampeter and elsewhere was gratuitously instructed by him.
Numbers of his pupils became eminent in various walks of life —
David Williams, M.P. for Merionethshire; William Davies,
Ph.D., of Ffrwdval, noted as a schoolmaster, and from 1856
to 1859 the professor of Hebrew and Mathematics at the Pres-
byterian College ; and the Rev. Rice Rees, B.D., first professor
of Welsh at St. David's College, and for ten years a near
neighbour and an intimate friend of his old tutor.

For a lengthy period Jeremy was constant in supplying the
pulpit of Cribyn Chapel, only lessening his labours after a
serious illness, in April, 1822. He was then bedridden, and his
wife's confinement being imminent, he escaped from his nurse,
and, saddling his horse, galloped to Lampeter for a doctor. The
exposure all but cost him his life, and to death he carried a
weakened constitution and deafness, consequent upon that ride.

For six years from 1837 he resided at Caermarthen, whither
he removed for the education and advancement of his family.
During that time he continued to discharge his ministerial duties
at Caeronen, walking in all weathers. It is true that for a season
he owned a pony, which had, however, to be sold, the expense of
keep being more than four times what he was then receiving
from his congregation. His son Daniel, writing in 1897, says : —

J well remember accompanying him on one of these fatiguing
journeys. We had got as far as Pencarreg — 15 miles from
Carmarthen ; the day was broiling hot, and perspiration was
streaming down his face, when the vicar of the parish accosted
him — "Dear Mr. Jeremy, why do you slave yourself in this
way ? " My father replied in a cheerful tone, and said some-
thing, if I remember aright, about the harvest being plenteous and
the lalmurers few ; and referred to the rest beyond the grave. He
might, I think, have appropriately added the words which the
Apostle Paul used in referring to his own voluntary labours —

128

" What is my reward then ? Verily that when I preach the
gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I
abuse not my power in the gospel.

In 1845, he resigned the charge at Caeronen, but continued
preaching for fifteen years longer, as opportunity offered. These
later years saw him an honoured resident at Lampeter, deeply
interested in all that pertained to its true and abiding welfare.
His five children survived him. Walter (d. 1893) became a
barrister-at-law, was bencher of the Honourable Society of Gray's
Inn, treasurer of the Presbyterian Fund, and J.P. for the county
of. Cardigan. Daniel (d. 1900) was minister, 1860—1900, of
Eustace Street congregation, Dublin, which, in 1869, amalga-
mated with that of Stephen's Green. Both brothers graduated
M.A. at Glasgow University. Of the three daughters, Rachel
yet lives, the sole survivor of the family, and, since 1864, the
widow of the Rev. Titus Evans. Her elder son, Walter, a con-
temporary of Bishop Owen at Jesus College, has been for some
years principal of the Presbyterian College.

To the left of the path leading up to the doors of Lampeter
Parish Church, Mr. Jeremy, his wife, daughter, and son-in-law,
lie buried, the headstone reading : —

gacreb to tfye memory \ of \ Qfye ^ev. gobtx
peremy | *8Xatxy years gffmtsfer of | %$e Jlnctenf
Presbyterian gfQurcQ of gfaeronen, | n>Qo bieb t#e
15f§ 3lot>. 1860, | &geb 78 years. | Jlnd gftaa&etfc,
§ts wife | w§o bxeb t$e 29t# §ex>t. 1848 | ageb 67
years. | Jlfso of Qimotfyy Q&omas*] of tfyis totvtx
w$o bxeb tfye 10f$ 3&arc$ 1867, | ageb 32 years.
Jlno gara§, fyxs wife \ *gaug§ter of ifye saib Sofytx
atxb gftaa Jeremy \ wfyo bieb t$e 9f§ %uty 1870 |
ageb 46 years.

* Father of the Rev. J. Jeremy Thomas, rector of Cascob, Walter J. Thomas, Birken-
head, and the Hon. Daniel T. Tudor, Attorney-General of Grenada. — One personal word
may perchance be permitted to him who pens these lines, and between whose father
and Mr. Jeremy a sturdy friendship existed. He has known the five children, and from
early youth has grown up on terms of happy intimacy with many of their children ;
common joys and sorrows have been shared together, and to-day finds him and the
great-grandchildren of John Jeremy often meeting in pleasant ways. — G.E.E.

Daniel Evans (1792 — 1846), Daniel Ddu o Geredigion, Welsh
poet, and author of " Gwinllan y Bardd," stands to-day chief of
the household names at Lampeter, and in the homesteads of
Aeron and Teify Vales. This is at once accounted for by the
simplicity and tenderness of his verses, which have won for him
the designation of our " Cardiganshire Burns." The facts of his
life are but few. He was born at Maesmynach, in the parish
of Llanfihangel Ystrad, third and youngest son of David Evans
(d. 1838), and Sarah (d. 1839), his wife — a superior woman,
in many ways, to those around her, who did well for her
children, and insisted upon their having the best education then
possible in the neighbourhood.* As we saw (p. 117), Vicar
Eliezer had him as one of his scholars at the Grammar School,
whence he passed to Jesus College, Oxford, matriculating on the
15th November, 1810. In 1814, he proceeded B.A., with a third
class in classics; in 1817, M.A. ; and B.D. in 1824. Elected to
a fellowship in 1817, "he took holy orders." So says his
biographer, Professor Tout,t in the Dictionary of National
Biography. This may be so, though there seems reason to doubt
it, as no record of it is to be found in the Diocesan Registries of
Oxford or St. David's. Mr. Thomas M. Davenport, writing from
Oxford on the 27th September, 1904, says: —

There is no record here of the ordination of Daniel Evans
between 1812 and 1832. I find the ordination , by the Bishop of
Oxford, of William Evans, Scliolar of Jesus College, B.A., on the
1st June, 1817, as Deacon, and on the 20th Dec., 1818, as
Piiest, then M.A.

Mr. T. W. Barker has likewise carefully searched the records at
Caermarthen, and can find no trace whatever of such an ordina-

* Simple house wives were wont to foretell her early inability to manage the home after
marriage. Did she not ride behind her husband in the pillion, with long gauntlets, and
buckles on her shoes ; and had she not a small set of real china tea-cups without handles ?
Such things were only for her betters ! Some of these dainty cups are yet treasured by
the family.— G.E.E.

t Thomas Frederick Tout, M.A., professor of history at St. David's College, 1881—1890,
and since then at the Owens College, Manchester.

17

130

tion at that period in this diocese. There is no letter of orders
in the keeping of his niece and nearest surviving relative, Mrs.
Jenkins, of Mynach Villa, Cribyn, who never saw such a docu-
ment in his possession. He never took any active clerical duty,
•was never licensed to a curacy, but, retaining his fellowship,
lived the life of a literary recluse, mainly at Maes-y-mynach.
Occasionally he preached in Pencarreg parish church. J

Professor Tout, in writing of Daniel's death, says "his dis-
orderly and irregular life was brought to a tragical end by his
suicide on the 28th March, 1846." Whilst it is perfectly true
that he died by his own hand, do the known facts warrant
the use of the words " disorderly and irregular life " ?

Let us look closely into this matter, and hear what some
reliable people say, who knew the man personally, and with
varying degrees of intimacy.

On the 15th September, and the 27th December, 1904, I had
conversation with his octogenarian niece, Mrs. Jenkins, who had
lived with her uncle for some years prior to his death. Never,
on any occasion, had she seen him the worse for liquor, nor did
they keep any in the house. Every night, as a rule, he walked
to the "Clock Inn," Cribyn, for his glass of ale and a chat with
the villagers, and invariably returned to his home sober and in
good time. She felt' sure, from her intimate knowledge of her
uncle's daily life, that there was no foundation for the "gossip."

On the 14th September, 1904, I walked down to Green Park,
by Llwynrhydowen Chapel, the residence of the octogenarian
Rev. Thomas Thomas, J.P., with whom I had a further talk
about Daniel. He was twenty-two years of age when the poet
died, and knew him well. He was no drunkard ; generous and
charitable to a fault ; no one in need or trouble ever appealed to
him in vain. He was not always understanded of the farmers ;
some people, who ought to have known better, tried to lead him
astray, and then circulated false rumours about him. He was
often in high spirits, and as often in low ones. He invariably
dined with the Unitarian ministers, on the occasions of their
Quarterly Meeting when held at Cribyn, where he was an
honoured and welcome visitor.

On the 26th December, 1904, being at Abermeurig, Mr. J.

X On one occasion he translated a sermon of Tillotson's, and preached it at Pencarreg ;
it was not appreciated by his hearers, who preferred Daniel hinuelf to TUlotson translated.
— G.B.B.

131

E. Rogers, J. P. (p. 77), an Oxford man, told me that he, as
a young man, just going up to Oxford, called upon Daniel Ddu
at Maesmynach, to seek his advice upon some matters connected
with books, <fcc, necessary to be taken. He held him in high
respect, in fact, rather "stood in awe of him." As he sat in his
chair, "he looked like an Oxford don." Had there been any
truth in what is implied by the words " disorderly and irregular
life," he felt sure he would have heard of it. The poet's death
came as a great surprise and grief to his neighbours and friends.

Mrs. Titus Evans, the octogenarian widow of the Rev. Titus
Evans, and a daughter of the Rev. John Jeremy (p. 125), who
has personal knowledge of Daniel, informs me that she never
heard of anything which could be brought against the man.

My father, who <had known Daniel from i827, when, as a
lad of thirteen, he first saw the poet, towering in height above
the other mourners at the funeral of Davis, Castell Hywel, to
1846, when he followed him to his grave, always said "he was
more sinned against than sinning, and that by men who were
not above suspicion in their own lives."

Lastly, there is the testimony of the octogenarian poet, Mr.
David Thomas (Devi Hefin),\\ of Cribyn. Him I saw and inter-
viewed on the 27th December, 1904 ; and his evidence is of the
highest import.

/ was eighteen years old when Daniel died, by his own hand,
and was one of the four to enter his roam and help cut down the
body, which we found suspended by a silk JiandJcer chief drawn
tightly round his neck by means of a slip knot, and fastened to his
bed-post, A verdict of " temporary insanity " was returned by the
jury at the inquest. I had been daily with "Daniel Ddu," from
the age of three; when I could write, he frequently employed me to
take down poetry as he dictated the lines. Never once did I see
him dmnk or even the worse for liquor, which was not kept in the
lumse. " Tegid," who did frequent duty for "Daniel Ddu" at
Oxford, was one of the last to have much converse with him, before
t/ie rash ad. Some thought at the time that he was in low spiiits
because Miss Gough looked coldly upon his attentions to her. She
was a Pembrokeshire woman, and ultimately became the second
wife of Bees Jones ("Amnon "). He enjoyed the company ofedu-

\\ To Yr Ymofjrnydd, 1904, p. 197, he contributed a notable article on Daniel Ddu, which
should be consulted by the reader.

132

cated men, and especially of Unitarian ministers.^ His father and
mother were close communion Baptists, and worshipped at Crug-y-
maen Chapel, occasionally too at Aberduar. Daniel was never
baptized, nor did he go with his parents to their worship after he
began, to attend school at Lampeter. He certainly Ivad leanings to
Unitariunism of Priestley type. His name has often been con-
founded with that of his nephew, the Rev. David Evans,* who — a
sad profligate — died on the 6th February, 1850, aged SJf years.
No, Daniel was neither a drunkard nor an immoral man.

These statements by accredited persons, with knowledge of
the subject at first hand, must speak for themselves, and their
value be appraised by the reader. They are here recorded in
simple justice to the memory of Daniel Ddu.

Settled in his native county, an educated man, with poetic
gifts, he gradually became known by his works, and won prizes
at divers eisteddfodau. In 1823, he secured two silver medals t
at Caermarthen. The following year he bore off a silver

•

§ Daniel Ddu, writing to the Rev. Timothy Davis, Evesham, in 1841, says : — The Rev.
T-. Griffiths ("Tau Gimel"] and family arrived in America, on or about the 90th June, after a
voyagt, upon the whole, not very unpleasant. Notwithstanding his many faults, he was a
jterson whose absence I cannot but regret ; as he lived in the neighbourhood so many years, ami
was what is termed a very companionable man. Lloyd of AUtyrodyn is dangerously ill. I
almost daily see Rees Davits [Unitarian minister of Capel-y-groes and Rhydygwin, 1825 —
1857], and a very friendly neighbour he is. — Cf. original letter of Rev. Timothy Davis, Old-
bury (cousin to T.D. of Bvesham), to Rev. John Jones, Aberdar, penes his s., Rev. Rees
Jenkin Jones, M.A.

* Entered St. David's College on the 12th October, 1886, aged nineteen ; a scholar of
Lampeter Grammar School. Rusticated from S.D.C. for profane language, and swearing,
and violent conduct to the scout. Returned into residence April, 1838. Was found dead in an
out-house at Cribyn.

t One, in the possession of Mrs. Jones, Cwmere, Talsarn. On the obverse an engraving
of the plan — afterwards altered — of St. David's College ; on the reverse : —

Gwobrwy i Daniel Ddu

Am ei Audi ar seiliad

Athrofa Dewi Sant;

Sef testyn Eisteddfod Caerfyrddin,

1823.

The other, in the possession of Mrs. Jenkins, Cribyn, is inscribed : —

Gwobrwy Cymdeithas Dyfed

i

Dl. Ddu Ceredigion,

C.C.J. Rhyduchain,

Am ei Awdl ar Wroldeb

T Groegiaid yn trechu y Twrciaid;

Sef Testyn Eisteddfod Caerfyrddin,

1823.

C.C.J. = Cymrawd Coleg yr Iesu (Fellow of Jesus College).

133

goblet, { again at Caermarthen ; and another cup which he won
is in the possession of Mr. Loxdale, of Castle Hill, Llanilar,
which was given by Daniel's brother — father to Mrs. Jenkins —
when not responsible for his actions and without his family's
knowledge, to the late uncle of the present owner.

The Gwallter Mechain collection of letters in the Welsh
National Library, at Aberystwyth, contains a few written by
Daniel Ddu to the Rev. Walter Davies, Manafon. The first
refers to the eisteddfod of 1824 : —

Maesmynach, nr. Lampeter.
22 March, 182£.
My dear Sir.

I intended ever since the Eisteddfod at Carmarthen to
write you a few lines to say, among other things, — that I was very
glad old Dyfrig had given you so much satisfaction. He did his
best, and took a great deal of pains. Leonidas did not take his
pen in hand till it was very late. Mr. Williams of Lampeter
had very great hesitation in deciding between Leonidas and
Llywarch, though Mr. John Howells was decidedly on the side of
the old Grecian warrior. LlywarcKs poem is a very elegant little

!

! one

" Dieneidient o ddn ei haden." Pindar
" A dawn ei gdn yn ddn gwyllt."

I am going to tell you a tale which I am sure you will be very
sorry to hear. The Archdeacon Beynon, the truly respectable
president of the Cymreigyddion at Carmarthen, took occasion at
the last anniversary of the Society, in the Town Hall, at Car-
marthen, to say that the old metres were ridiculous, disgraceful,
and the invention of dark and barbarous ages. Nobody said a
word against him, conceiving as we did that what he uttered
would go but a little way to annihilate the metres, and that
possibly the harmony of the Meeting might be interrupted. In the
afternoon, however, at the Old Bush, where we dined, Mr. D. L.

X Also in the possession of Mrs. Jenkins, inscribed : — .

Anrheg Cymreigyddion Caerfyrddin

I Daniel Ddu o Oeredigion

Am ei ymdrechiadau yn

Ngvxuanaeth y Qymdeithas.

Otoyl Dewi t

18U.

134

Jones (Clyn Adda), a dissenting minister, and Tutor at the Pres-
byterian Academy, Carmarthen, took occasion in the middle of an
address of a general nature to speak a few words in opposition to
the sentiments which the Archdeacon had expressed in the morning,
but made his observations with as much respect and deference to
the old gentleman as could possibly be done. The Archdeacon
immediately on his return home wrote to the secretary to say that
his connection with the Society was at an end ! I am truly sorry
for this, but it cannot be remedied. I was very glad to hear of
the establishment of the Society at Newtown. I am sure that as
it has the support of Mr. Jenkins it cannot fail of prosperity.
The Aberystwyth Society is the best conducted that I have ever
attended in England or Wales. It did my heart good to be
present there on the 2 of this month. I am sure one young man
composed 50 o Englynion, and good ones too, on different subjects
in the course of six hours. Every individual on being called upon
by the Llywydd to give a toast makes a speech — then follows an
air on the Telyn, and the bards, while the instrument is at work,
let fly the X wen twenty miles above the clouds and she returns
with her beak full of Ambrosia on which the company feed before
another toast is given.

Yn gry* cwyd dy ben oV graian — yn Iwys,

Taliesin mvryneiddlan ;

Tro olwg Vn tir hoywlan,

Owel awr deg — Walia ar ddn —

Ar ddn a'r hen gdn ar gynnydd — telyn

Ym mhob teulu dedwydd.

Cdn cog ar fawnog fy nydd —

* * Cymru a fu — Cymru fydd. "

Is nothing to be done at last with respect to the annihilation of
some of the 2b metres? I think that some of them might very well
be thrown into the gutter, such as Mr. Gorch[est] y Beirdd, and
Mr. Tawddgyrch. I wish the old Triban Morganwg was put in
the room of Gorchest y Beirdd. What are we to do for an heroic
metre? Is not the Cywydd too difficult? I can find no harmony
in Dr. Pughe y s Gwynfa. I should very much like to have your
opinion whether if a person writes for future fame he had better
write in the common metres or the mesurau caethion. Edward
Richard's metre is quite as difficult as most of the 2Jf. I am
much inclined to think that to mite in the modem metres, and
introduce as much Cynghanedd as possible, without tying one's self

135

worse than Samson ever was tied would be the securest way for
a poet to "pingere in ceternam."

Map I beg of you or Mr. Jenkins of Kerry , to whom I beg my
kindest respects, to let me know if you hear of a person that would
grant a title in any part of North Wales. I have a young friend
a B.A. who wants one very much.

Yours with great regard ond respect,

Daril Evans.

Inter nos about the Archdeacon, I said not a word to oppose him.

This was followed seven years later by another to Gwallter
Mechain :^ —

Maesmynach, nr. Lampeter, 10 March, 18 SI.

My dear Sir,

So many years have elapsed since I have had any commu-
nication with you before, that I hope you wiU excuse my troubling
you with a short epistle. When I wrote to you last, the purport
of my letter was to consult you whether a bard who was so much
under the influence of the Awen as not to resist the temptation of
writing something when she paid him a visit, would do wiser and
more for the benefit of the community, and to preserve his own
fame, to write in the Mesurau Caethion, or Rhyddion. I have
written a great variety in both. My chief object in writing in the
Mesurau Rhyddion was to improve the taste of the Dyfed people,
by abolishing from my composition semi-English words. All that
I have ever yet writton, at all worthy — if any be worthy to appear
in print, will be published very shortly under Hie title of

" Gwinllan y Bardd."

I received from Mr. Williams of Meyfod some time before the
temporary suspension of the " Giuyliedydd " a letter requesting me
to send contributions to it. The reason that I have sent so little to
any Periodical of late years was a wish to reserve my pieces till I
should have enough to make a small vol., and you know that there
is generally a complaint if many pieces that have appeared in
print before, come on the stage again.

I wish there was a greater intercourse between South and North
Wales. " Gwilym Padarn " stayed with me a week last year in
his tour through South Wales, and ever since his reasoning on the
subject I have much regretted that I ever admitted twyll awdl to
any of my free metre compositions. I have seen with abhorrence

136

such a word as "gwydda! v put by the North Walian inferior

Bards to rhyme with " gwafa," but our writing " tybie' " to rhyme

with "adre" is on reflection equally abominable. In reviewing

my poems I have endeavoured as far as I could to remedy these

deficiencies. In a Cywydd written nearly twenty years ago I

have this line

Yn ami am dSg resymau,

the next is

Chwilio V vryffw chad i'r iau,

and one or more of the bards have told me on my showing them
the corrected proofs of the "Gwinllan," printed off, that the
cynghanedd is altogether unjustifiable, and I am extremely
anxious to have your jud mnt respecting it, as I do not know of
any other line, but something may be said in its defence as not
militating against the rides. I meant it as cynghanedd groes,
and I think I have seen instances in respectable authors of
running up a cynghanedd in this way, as if the word was to be
pronounced "amal" and yet written "ami" to make the line
7 syllables.

I saw this line the other day, in an old cywydd not announced
by whom written,

A thrwy Loegr uthr olygiad,

nonsense line signifying my meaning,

Mae naw gafr yma 'n gofyn.

I know that my line is much weaker than this (if the cynghanedd
is defensible), but what I wish to have your judgment upon is
whether my line is altogether out of rule, and a bad precedent,
and I have reason to request your answer if possible per return
of post.

As this note is on business of my own, rather than any thing
else, you will excuse my giving you the additional trouble of
paying its postage.

I am, my dear Sir

most sincerely yours

Danl. Evans.

Must it be cynghanedd ddisgynedig ar yn ami mae dyn yn
ymlin.

Give us a line on the probability of the restoration of the Eis-
teddfodau.

137

Ten years more elapse, and we get this one : —

Maesmynach, Nr. Lampeter

7 May, 18^1.
My dear Sir.

I have received the compositions on which you and I have
been appointed by the London Cymreigyddion Society to judge.
They are numbered regularly from 2 to 48, and I am afraid that
no. 1 must be missing somewhere. I gathered from Mr. Thomas
the secretary's communication that the originals were with you,
and if so, I should like to have a copy of no. 1, (if extant)
transcribed in a letter. No. 2 begins : —

" Ow! rhoi enwog arweinydd — yr A wen."

As far as I can see at present from a rather hasty perusal of
the poems, I think that no. 37 by Dysgybl is very meritorious.
The four last Englynion by Dysgybl appear to me very striking if
11 hawddau digyfwrddyd " and " mawryd " are properly used. I
never saw the 2 first words before, but from what I can guess
from Dr. Pughe's Dictionary they are employed in a proper sense
by the author. I suppose "rnawryd" is the same as "mawrydi."
I find- "mawrydig" often used. It is to be lamented that there
is no verb belonging to the last line by Dysgybl. There is no verb
also in the second Englyn. I should like to hear from you as
soon as you have perused the poems, for I guess that we are per-
mitted to compare notes.

I am

Very dear Sir
With the utmost respect
Yours very sincerely

Addressed to Dl - I)dy "

The Eev. Walter Davies

Llanrhaiadr Mochnant

Nr Oswestry.
Sealed with red wax, D.E.

Of Daniel Ddu as a public speaker we have an idea in the
account, preserved by The Camhian,\\ of the proceedings at the
banquet held on St. David's Day, 1827, at Lampeter, in con-
nection with the opening of the college. On that occasion his

jj Swansea, 10th March, 1827.
18

138

speech, "delivered with great energy and feeling," is thus
reported : —

As it has been announced that the cultivation of the
ancient British Language is to form a leading feature in
the course of study to be adopted at St. David s College, I
feel more confident in requesting the Chairman's permission
to recite a few lines of poetry in that language on the
glorious and interesting occasion on which we are now
assembled. When I consider that for more than twenty
years, this building has been an object of public hope ;
mingled indeed with gloomy apprehensions ; — and, when
now in a state of completion, I see it rear its lovely head
above the Vale of Tivy, fair as the rising sun ; when I
behold a realization of all that my muse, in the warmth of
her fancy, anticipated, when at the first she sang to the
praise of this establishment — and above all, when I see at
the head of it, a genuine, true-hearted Cymro, in name, in
heart, in blood, Llewelyn Lewellin, when I behold in that
individual an old and valued friend, over whose earlier-
studies I myself watched with feelings of deep interest : —
all these reflections combined, make the heart too full for

the tongue to speak.

" Quis talia fando
" Temperet a lachrymis."

Thou hast been elevated, Lewellin, not like thy namesake of
old,§ to lead thy country's armies to the field of slaughter
and of blood — but happier thy destinies, to lead the sons of
Cambria through the still and quiet paths of learning and
science to the happy regions of eternal peace and glory.

Having thus spoken, he recited his since well-known lines, be-
ginning —

I'r Coleg, fy Awen, moes etto fwyn gan.

Scattered about in divers burial-grounds in Cardiganshire are
grave-stones bearing memorial lines composed by the poet. In
Llanwenog churchyard, on the altar-tomb of Davis, Castell
Hy wel, we find : —

eigion calon coledd — daioni
A dinaf rinwedd
Oedd ei fryd o hyd yn hedd
Ei Naf, a gwir dangnefedd. — Daniel Ddu.

§ The celebrated warrior, Llewelyn ap Gryffydd, the last Prince of Cymru.

139

In Capel-y-groes burial-ground is a stone : —

Cofiant am [ Thomas Jenkins, [ gynt o Rhydypennau
ym mhlwydd Ystrad yn y swydd hon, yr hwn fu | farw
y 27 o Hydref 1834, yn 90 [ mlwydd oed. Efe oedd un
ym mysg | ychydig gyfeillion eraill a fu'n achos | i adeiladu
Capel y Groes, er | addoli Un Duw a Thad oil. | Wrth
farw ymddangosodd i'w gyfeillion | fel yn mwynhau gobaith
cryf am | adgyfodiad gwell. |

Yn gorphwya o bwys y byd, — yn dawel
O'r diwedd, mae r ysbryd ;
O'm ceufedd oer fe'm cyfyd,
Fy Naf glan, i'w fwyn nef glyd. — Daniel Ddu.

With his published works this chapter is not so much con-
cerned. They speak for themselves, and their fame is assured.
To Widow Esther Williams, of Aberystwyth, belongs the honour
of printing his first book, at her press in Bridge Street. From
this humble establishment, in 1826, there were issued the twenty
pages in which "Golwg ar gyflwr yr Iuddewon " first went forth
to win its way to the hearts of his fellow countrymen. Then, in
1828, his friend Archdeacon Beynon included "Cerdd arwraidd
ar y Gauaf " in his "Cerddi arwraidd ar yr Hydref a'r Gauaf."

In 1831, Daniel Ddu published his collected works at the
"Tonn" Press, Llandovery (p. 100), under the title of "Gwinllan
y Bardd ; sef prydyddwaith ar amrywiol destunau a gwahanol
fesurau."* A second edition, issued at Lampeter in 1872, con-
tains additions mainly selected from previously unpublished
sources.

Some of his " English friends having expressed a wish to see a
portion of English in "Gwinllan y Bardd," he inserted three
pieces, though it was not originally his intention ' to do so.
Those which appear in the volume are "Lines" in memory of
the Rev. Eliezer Williams —

.... Like God's true Shepherd, thy incessant aim
Was, the poor wandering sinner to reclaim —
To preach Christ crucified — disarm all strife —
And feed the hungry with the bread of life

Next come " Verses " recited at the public dinner given at Lam-

* Two copies, both in their original olive green cloth jackets, ure in the Welsh National
Library, Aberystwyth. One bears the book label of the Rev. Walter Davies, Manafon ;
the other is inscribed, The Gift of Pryte Pryse to his friend John Vaughan, 9th Feb., 1889. —
6.E.E.

140

peter, 27th July, 1824, "to the Rev. John Williams, Vicar and
Headmaster of the Grammar School, at that place, on the occa-
sion of his departure to fill his new, distinguished situation, as
Rector of the Edinburgh Academy " —

.... When thou art far from Tivy's vale
The poor will think of many a tale
Of sorrow told at Falcondale,
And never told in vain

The third is " The Return," which first appeared in the Oxford

Journal, 1814.

The somewhat romantic story of the loss and subsequent

recovery of the only portrait! of Daniel Ddu must be told in

Mrs. Jenkins's own way : —

When Daniel was a lad attending the Lampeter Grammar
School under the Rev. Eliezer Williams, he lodged with Mr. and
Mrs. Morgan, " Ship " Inn. After going up to Oxford he had
this portrait painted with his cap and gown. Some years ago,
and after Uncle's death, a lady called upon my father at Maes-
mynach, and saw the portrait. She said she was Miss Morgan,
the daughter of the people with whom Uncle had lodged at the
" Ship," and that she had been very fond of him then. At once,
and without saying anything to me, father gave the portrait to
Miss Morgan, and away she went with it in her pocket. Years
passed on, and father was dead. All trace of Miss Morgan ami
the portrait was lost, and the family had given up all hope of
recovering it. One day after my marriage, I was making butter
at Rhydypemiu, when a gentleman on horseback rod.e up and
asked if 1 was related to " Daniel Ddu." After talking with me
a while, he took from his breast coat pocket the little red case, ami
asked me if I knew whose portrait that was. " Yes, sir, my uncle
Daniel," I replied. The rider would not part with it, being one
his sister had valued. Years again passed, when, being at the
Wells, I met the Rev. David Morgan, rector of Llanbadarn,
Penybont, in Radnorshire, who then owned the miniature. Most
willingly he returned it to my hands and keeping, and here it is.
I gave him a donation towards the restoring of his church.

As the cloud of misrepresentation, which has for a while
somewhat obscured him, rolls away, Daniel Ddu begins to appear
in his true light. Talented, modest, retiring, courting always

t A well-executed miniature in colours, under glass, and enclosed in an oval crimson
case. Is in the possession of his niece, Mrs. Jenkins.

141

the company of cultured men, corresponding with Celtic scholars,
and living in happy, daily intercourse with his own people, we
cannot be surprised at the affection and the reverence in which
his memory is held by the little group of men and women yet
surviving, who were privileged to know the poet in person.
There is something indescribably touching in their allusions to
bim, apart entirely from his literary labours, which assuredly
would not be so had he not been one who had won and deserved
them. His place in the foremost ranks of Cardiganshire's sons
is secured, and he will pass down to posterity as a man of whom
his county and his country may well be proud.

By the side of his parents in Pencarreg churchyard rest his
mortal parts.

@r

Qoffabwxxaetk} am

3$ Tgaxcfyebxg ^anxet fgvatia, a$.3>.,

s>ef

*gatxxeZ *gbvt o <&exebxQxon,

@9mmran>6 o <&cfeg t)X §esu, "gt(?9&i?c§am,

'gSar&fc QabexxxoZ gyfeb t}xx t? ftwybbyn 1823,

Jlc Jltt>6n>r gwinttan ? a?3ar&&.

<&<xtxtot}b ef x}tx ~gft<xe&xm?tx<xcl} ~glawvt§ 5*6, 1792.

^u faxto x}tx ~8Xae&xxexox}bb ~gXaxoxt§ 28am, 1846.

Doniawl oedd ef : ein Daniel Ddu, — heb ryfyg,
Un o brif feirdd Cymru ;
Yn ei fedd mae'r bardd a fu, —
Yn y llwoh yma'n llechu. — Tegid.

"& leaben-bcrn teacher/'

John Williams (1792 — 1858), so designated by his friend
Sir Walter Scott, was vicar of Lampeter from May, 1820,
to October, 1833 — only the first three years, however, of this
period being spent as an actual inhabitant in the parish. It was
the lively and instructive conversation on Welsh history and
antiquities, which Scott had with him, that mainly prompted the
writing of the story of "The Betrothed." Without doubt,
Williams must take front rank amongst the most distinguished
of classical scholars born in Wales, and that, too, in a county r *
which, some years previously, had given birth to Davis, of
Castell Hywel. One of the sons of Vicar John Williams, of
Ystrad Meurig, he had for his mother Jane, daughter of Lewis
Rogers, of Gelli — a man learned in law — whose grandson to-day
is the old world squire of Abermeurig, and doyen of the Cam-
brian Archaeological Association. Going up from his father's
school to Oxford, in 1810, he was fortunate enough to be a
fellow-student at Balliol College with J. G. Lockhart, and
between the two men there grew up a close friendship, which
deepened as their lives lengthened. He graduated B.A. in 1814,
with Dr. Arnold as one of his four companions in first class; and
soon after took up his real vocation of a public schoolmaster,
and his all but nominal one of a minister of the Church of
England. r

In 1805, Eliezer Williams had re-founded the Grammar
School, which rapidly and deservedly won high repute as an
academy to which parents might with advantage send their sons.
At his death, in January, 1820, Bishop Burgess offered Williams
the living of Lampeter, with the expressed hope that he would
carry on the school as his predecessor had done. How Williams,
on his arrival at Lampeter, impressed D. R. Rees, of Llandovery,
is preserved in one of the letters to his brother, Rector Rees, of
Cascob : —

22 May, 1820.
The Rev. Mr. Williams appears to me to be a very pleasant f
communicative man, . . . he is about 28 years old, . ... is a
shoii, stout man, marked with the small-pox; and of an active T

"& ijeaticn-born teacher/'

f- in V\ I!.?. jams (17'JJ— 183/s^ -o designated by li> .. • .
v? v\'.*i*« . >ott, whs vicar «»r Lampeter from M.t\> • -.-
to <>. u-ber, 1 -S-^3 — only the first three years, however. of ♦»..

* *

period being spent a? an actual inhabitant in the jwrisK. b
the lively and instructive conversation on Welsh bistorv 'it.-'
..nii«iuities. which Scott had with him, that mainly prompted 'h-
\\ ; .-.'lg of the story of "The Bei.othed." Without tiowh*
*» r . 'luam* must take front rar ^ amongst the most iligtingui.-hc*!
i.'T i^a^it-a! ^rho:ar^ horn in Wide*, and that, too, in a count \
whi h. <->!».o y»ars prcvi ot; h , had gi\en birth to Davis, of
(.»--:»'M li\wl. One ot the h-m.* of Vicar John Williams, of
\«hao Mm,!;; he had tor his mother Jane, daughter of Lewi*
k-'iT'^'s. of (Join —a man hooedin law- -whose grandson today
>s the old world squire of Ahcrmeurio;, and doyen of the ('an*
brian Archaeological Associate :• Cioing up from his father-
school to <. l xf'»itl, in 1810, lie was* fortunate enough to be a
fi 'low-student at Balliol Coiiegc with J. G. Lockhart, and
♦.ciwf'Mi the :u.i men there u.-.-w up ;■ close friendship, which
di'j'pt.iOvl as the'«. uv^ lengthincd. lie graduated B.A. in 1S11,
wnh Dr. Arnold as on.' i^f his four companions in first class; end
<-.*on uke* rook ur his real vocation of a public schoolmaster,
and his all I..5 (Mimind one of a miiuMcr of the Church ot
England.

In ltf05. Vi'"*7.u- Williams had re-founded the Gramm.-'i
Srhool, which tt.pa'V and d'^ervedly w.-n high repute as ;.-.
ac I-'iny to wh»<h parents ?i ight with ad\ai.tage send then ><"^
A* lus death, in January ' ^i'0, Bishop Burgess offered Wd!*-i .«•«
the li\ iiig of Lampetoi. A."tli the expressed hope that he u..*;i !
\ v\y on the school as his- pn'deee&sor had done. How AS dhai «-.
0*1 his arrival at Lain pet »t, unpress"d D. H. Recs, of Llandov, 5 .
is pre-, irved in one ot the le -:v. to his brother, Hector lie .- ••
C'ascob —

2 J May. '.S.J'-

r t\i>- !i< r Mi. JnUiitntS <//'/'". •> to •fur to be U r#v// pi- 1
"'i;iini!,iii'i,i'f ,ti(in, . . . h- ?.<.//•«*/' 38 years oil, ....
■>/*'.',ij ^{irat man, marked v:ith the *htall-}H>.x ; and oj u;i > •

The Ven. Archdeacon John Williams.

THE ;;ew YORK
PUBLIC LI3RARY

ASTOH, L r NOX AND
TILDC.M TO'JNDAT I NS.

143

lively disposition. He speaks Welsh tolerably well, and is desirous

of promoting the study of the Welsh language Finding

the old school-house in such a miserable condition, he has obtained
leave to keep the school in the Town Hall, until a new school-room
can be built, which is expected to be done this summer. It is in
contemplation to erect a new house for the master this summer
also, a gentleman in the neighbourhood having promised to build
it, and vest it in the hands of trustees for the use of the master "
for the time being, which will be a great advantage to the town of
Lampeter and the surrounding country.

Rice Rees, who had been one of Eliezer's scholars, continued
at the school after Williams became the master, being occasion*
ally visited there by his uncle, D. R. Rees, who sent to Cascob a
descriptive letter after one such visit. Hear him again : —

The Rev. J. Williams, the new master, arrived at Lampeter
last Thursday. His strict and punctual attention to the- school
has already worked a great reformation in the conduct of the
scholars, particularly the indolent and obstinate ones ; he told me
he was fully determined to adhere to the English mode of regu-
larity in teaching, and that he would compel I the .scholars to keep
proper hours.

80 far all seemed to promise well for the school.

The following November Robert Cadell, of the house of Con-
stable, conveyed Charles Scott from Abbotsford to Lampeter,
where Sir Walter Scott placed him under the care of Williams.
The lad was then in his fifteenth year. Writing to his elder son
Walter, of the 18th Hussars, Cork, Sir Walter says: —

U Nov., 1820.
Charles seems most admirably settled. I had a most sensible
letter on the subject from Mr. Williams, who appears to have
taken great pains, and to have formed a very just conception
both of his merits and foibles. When I have an opportunity, I
will hand you his letter, for it will entertain you, it is so correct a
picture of Monsieur Charles.

A while later Sir Walter says to his son : —

London, 17 March, 1821.
Charles's last letter was uncommonly steady, and prepared me
for one from Mr. Williams, in which he expresses satisfaction

144

with his attention, and with his progress in learning, in a much
stronger degree than formerly. This is truly comfortable, and
may relieve me from the. necessity of sending the poor boy to India.

The " high satisfaction," says Lockhart, " with which his care
of Charles Scott inspired Sir Walter, induced several other
Scotch gentlemen of distinction, by-and-by, to send their sons
also to his Welsh parsonage, the result of which northern con-
nexions was important to the fortunes of one of the most
accurate and extensive scholars, and most skilful teachers of
the present time." Villiers Surtees was a schoolfellow with
Charles Scott at Lampeter, and spent the vacation of 1821 with
him at Abbotsford. He became one of the Supreme Judges at
the Mauritius. William Forbes Mackenzie (1807 — 1862), poli-
tician, was likewise at Lampeter with Charles Scott. He was
the author of what is known as the " Forbes Mackenzie Act,"
1853, for the regulation of public houses in Scotland, which
provides for the closing of public houses on Sundays, and at
10 p.m. on week-days. Amidst these and other companions
Charles was striving to become a good scholar and fit far Oxford,
to use his father's words to Miss Edgeworth, in April, 1822.

Meanwhile, what was actually going on in the school? Ac-
counts are hard to reconcile. Williams gave Sir 'Walter his
side ; Kees, of Llandovery, who saw things, wrote to his brother
on 2nd October, 1821 : —

In consequence of Mr. Williams's fickleness, various reports
are in circulation, changing every time anybody comes here from
Lampeter. Rice's last letter contains a report that the school is
about to be removed to Falcon Dale (a large home about a mile
above the Church), where Mr. Williams is going to reside; and
that a Rev. Mr. Daniel, — a younger brother of Mr. Daniel of
Cwrt Mawr, Cardiganshire, — is to reside there also, and to be a
partner with Mr. Williams, who is to take in 86 boarders, at
£20, £25, £30, £Jfi, etc., per annum, their board to be in pro-
portion to their price. Those who lodge out of the house must
attend the proper hours. Mr. Daniel has been some time in
England, at Parson's Green, near London, but whether he is a
good scholar or not they have no account. Rice is so dissatisfied
at Mr. Williams's inattention that he talks of coming home,
knowing that he can do more good by studying at home, than
in Lampeter.

145

Now let us hear what Bice Rees has to say, writing as he does
from the school, in his eighteenth year, and but a few months
before going up to Oxford : —

Odder, 1821.
Nothing prevails here but inattention on Mr. Williams' part ;
and uneasiness among us scholars, who talk of going home.
Instead of saying ten lessons weekly (our usual number), last week
we said but three, and this week six; five holydays given in
one fortnight ; going to school before breakfast given up ; he doe*
not attend until between 10 and 11 o'clock in the morning, and in
the evening he seldom comes in until 5 or 6 o'clock, and then
hears our lessons with indifference. Some evenings he does not
come in at all; the Divinity class is entirely neglected, it is
reported that Mrs. Williams is averse to his keeping school,
and that Mr. W. complains that it is hard on a person of his
income (about £900 p. an.) should be troubled with a school.

Charles Scott, too, had evidently sent something home, which
caused Sir Walter to write him, on the 21st November, 1821 : —

/ am very glad to hear you are attending closely to make up
lost time. Spurt is a good thing both for health and pastime, but
you must never allow it to interfere with serious study.

Sport ? yes ; D. R. Rees lets the cat out of the bag, in his blunt
way, when he tells the rector of Cascob, on the 8th of the same
month —

Rice has not yet returned to Lampeter, in consequence of
hearing of Mr. Williams's continued inattention to the school,
being chiefly occupied in sporting.

Another scholar's account of a lecture by Mr. Williams to
his divinity class is also preserved for us by Rector Rees.
D. Jeffreys entered that class on Saturday, the 31st August,
1822, and his description of the following Monday's lecture is
worth quoting : —

This morning we Iwd " such " a lecture in the Greek Testament
on the 3rd Chap, of Romans, that I shall not forget it soon. It
lasted nearly three hours. First of all Mr. Williams gave it us
for neglect in not being, as a class, partakers of the Holy Com-
munion, pointing out the impossibility of being saved without it.
Then he explained the chapter verse by verse, and then analysed it.
all, and that with such fervency, you would take him for a saint.

19

146

The wife, who was averse to her husband keeping school, was
Mary, only daughter of Thomas Evans, of Llanilar. For some
reason or another the marriage was not solemnized in the bride's
parish, there being no entry of it in the Llanilar Register. Nor
does it seem to have taken place at Lampeter, the register here
containing no evidence of it.

Williams gave up his school and removed to Edinburgh in the
summer of 1824. That the non-residence of their vicar was
looked upon with disfavour by the college and the parishioners
was but natural. In 1827 he rashly accepted the Latin pro-
fessorship at London University, and equally as precipitately
resigned it nine months later— an event alluded to by Rees,
of Llandovery, in a letter to his brother at Cascob : —

26 July, 1828,
It is reported that the Rev. J. Williams, Vicar of Lampeter,
has resigned the situation of Tutor at the London University, and
is likely to come to Lampeter. Corne when he will, he will come
before he is wanted there.

Williams was sworn in as a Lampeter burgess at the Court
Leet held in October, 1820, and at the next Michaelmas Leet
was presented portreeve for the Manor Borough, Town, and Lord-
ship of Llanbeder. He held his two Courts Leet in the Town
Hall, the foreman of the jury of his second one being the Rev.
Henry Daniel already mentioned, who had been made a burgess
promptly upon his arrival in the town. After a year's interval,
he was again presented as portreeve, but did not preside at
either of the Courts of his second year of office, being then non-
resident, nor does his name occur afterwards in the Presentment
Book. The one thing he seems to have done during his term of
office was in October, 1822, when the town pavements were
ordered to be put in repair at' expense of the parish, and if not done
within two months, the foreman [Henry Daniel] of this Inquest to
indict the parish.

Largely through his influence, Lampeter, and not Llanddewi
Brefi, was selected as the home of St. David's College. Williams's
heart was set upon being its first principal, but, owing to some
subsequent difference of views with Bishop Burgess, he was not
appointed to the office; and what Lampeter lost, Edinburgh
gained, in his being chosen (1824) through Scott's influence, first
rector of its Academy; a post he held, save for the one brief

147

interval already alluded to, until 1847, the year of his resigna-
tion. He, however, retained his Lampeter vicariate to 1833,
when he was inducted Archdeacon of Cardigan. Owing to an
informality, the institution had to be repeated in August, 1835.
Immediately on leaving Edinburgh, he entered upon his duties
as first warden of Llandovery School; and when, in 1853, he
finally retired from active work, he had the justly earned satis-
faction of having raised Llandovery to a foremost position
amongst Welsh schools.

Williams was called upon twice to read the Office for the
Burial of the Dead over the mortal parts of two men, each of
note. In 1832, while yet vicar of Lampeter, he said the last
words, in Dryburgh Abbey, when Sir Walter Scott was " laid by
the side of his wife in the sepulchre of his ancestors"; and in
1853, in the presence of over two thousand mourners, he did the
same for Frederick Robertson, of Brighton, who had, with
Archbishop Tait, been amongst his Edinburgh pupils.

His bitter disappointment at not being elevated to the see of
St. David's in 1840, on the death of Bishop Banks Jenkinson, is
manifest from the following letter*: —

My Dear Jones,

I enclose you the precious documents which confirm the
statement made by me of the shameful treatment that I, the only
Welsh Scholar of considerable name for the last century, have
received at the hands of my English superiors.

To the three letters before described I add a letter number four.
In it you will find the following statement — " / will only add
that at some future time, if I should have it in my power and if
my life should be spared, I shall have great pleasure in seconding
your intention of fixing yourself permanently in this diocese.
With the assistance of able and energetic men much may be done."

How preciously he preserved this solemn promise is proved by
his own confession number three, that so far from seconding my
wishes he absolutely interfered clandestinely and treacherously to
prevent the possibility of my entrance, when an opportunity oc-
curred.

* Cf. the original, preserved in a copy of " Gomer " in the University College of Wales,
Aberystwyth ; the former owner has carefully affixed it to the inner front cover. Most
of John Williams's papers and correspondence were lost off the coast of Spain, near
Perrol, in the wreck 07th July, 1878) of the s.s. " Europa," in which his eldest daughter,
Jane Eliza— widow ox Major Walter Colquhoun-Grant, of the 2nd Dragoon Guards — was
returning to England from India.— G.E.E.

148

Be so kind as to take care of these documents — -first get them
copied, and show them to Sir Benjamin Hall in confirmation of
my statement.

Tell him that to a certain extent I place myself in his hands,
and again beseech him and the whole body of those liberal M.P.*
connected with Wales who either opposed my elevation to the bench
or remained passive, or on the other hand were influential in
exalting the Reverend Connop Thirlwall to a position which will
enable him to trample under foot the man whom he has calum-
niated and injured, and whom consequently he never can forgive —
/ again say I beseech him and them to procure me that learned
• leisure which I so much need and may say deserve.

Let them as Welshmen repair the wrongs which I have received
from my English supenors merely because they dreaded " my
ability and energy." Let them press upon the Minister that by
placing me in the painful situation in which I am he is morally
bound to provide for me in sqme spot where I shall be safe from
the rindictive blows of an insulting enemy.

The English Bishops^ in Wales*, the Primate of England, and
the Prime Minister, have all combined in giving heavy blows and
discouragement to a poor Welsh scholar, whom while they injure
they must respect.

It has struck me that God himself by these repeated blows
wishes me to rouse myself from that spirit of passive resistance-
to wrongful oppression, which has invariably characterized me,
and to compel roe to throw aside all false respect for wrong-doing
superiors.

If I throw away the scabbard and address myself both to
the passions and reason of my countrymen, I feel that I possess
ability and energy enough to raise a spirit, which Ml render the
mitre of every English Bishop in Wales a crown of thorns.

But I am anxious to avoid this and to finish my important
works in peace and quietness. If this carit be done, why I must
first publish my whole case, and then throw myself unhesitatingly
upon the protection and sympathy of the sound-hearted portion of
my countrymen.

How well or how ill the Church in Wales is able to withstand
the storm of indignation, which would be the necessary conse-

--- * - - ■■ . -. -

t When tkis letter was written, William Carey was Bishop of St. Asaph ; Christopher
Bethell, of Bangor ; and Edward Coplestone, of Llandaff . John Banks Jenkinson, Bishop
of St. David's and Dean of Durham, died eleven days previously, and was succeeded by
Connop Thirlwall.

149

quence, let them look to who have, (both Whigs and Tories) for
the last century and a half treated us as despicable Helots fit only
to serve as slaves and laughing stocks to our unmanly insulters.

This letter is written in a short interval between our examina-
tions which are no-w going on, as fast as the pen can write down
the words. But I feel a new spirit within we which is a sure
aliquid invadere magnum.

Again I say preserve faithfully these precious proofs of Saxon
treachery and bad faith.

Yours truly

J. Williams.
Edinburgh

20 *July, 1840.

Keep this letter and copy it, and show the copy to Sir Benjamin
Hall, to whom with a copy of the letters you may commit the
power of shoiving them to others at his own discretion. With you
of course they are in confidential keeping.

Cardiganshire has a replica of his bust in the library of the
University, College of Wales, Aberystwyth, the original marble
one by Joseph Edwards being in the library of Balliol College,
Oxford ; whilst his portrait, painted by Colvin Smith in 1841,
hangs in the hall of the Academy at Edinburgh, and is here
reproduced.

On New Year's Day, 1854, when sending his "Gomer" forth
from Brighton, bearing on its title-page the words "Lux in
tenebris," he addresses his "dear Countrymen" as "friends,
without allusion to divisions, whether political or religious
among you, for the system explained considers men only as
Christians, not merely as creatures of time and space, liable only
to all the contingencies connected with abode on earth, but as
heirs of immortality, as partakers of the spirit of God, and
as bound by love and duty to render themselves, while yet in
the flesh, meet inhabitants of those 'glorious mansions, which
He has prepared for all those who love Him, and keep His
Commandments.' "

Five years later, on the Festival of St. John the Evangelist,
1858, his spirit entered the "glorious mansions." Kowland
Williams was writing to his betrothed on the last day of that
year, from St. David's College, just as the news came to Lam-
peter, and he speaks ol the old Archdeacon of Cardigan as one of

150

our most famous Welsh scholars, but a man always in trouble and
Controversy. I am glad my last communications with him were
tolerably friendly, and regret so much power as he possessed was not
more happily guided. He was once vicar of this parish, . . . but fie
has nearly vanished from people's memories, except from a few of
the older.

It is pleasant to call to mind to-day one who had made
especial study of the early history of Celtic races, and par-
ticularly of the language and literature of Wales : it is yet more
pleasant to be able to connect his name with Lampeter.

pee ?to, of the "Melsh gaints."

Rice Rees (1804—1839), first Welsh professor of St. David's
College, came of nonconformist stock, and received infant
baptism at the hands of a dissenting minister. His mother
was Sarah, daughter of David Rees, of Llandovery, who died
on the 17th July, 1831, aged seventy-seven years, having been
for the last twenty-five years of his life a member of Salem
Independent Chapel, Queen Street, in that town, and for twenty
years one of its deacons. Here some of his children attended,
and here his grandson Rice was baptized. Of the simple home
life in which his mother, with her brothers and sisters, was
reared, many glimpses are preserved to us in letters written by
various members of the family to their brother William, for
over half a century rector of Cascob. Sister Ann tells him, on
the 18th March, 1797 :—

We were very much frightened some time ago with the landing
of the French so near us ; the people here were all very active in
making wepons to go to meet them ; there is about 100 volunteers
raising in and about, this town. A sepscription to cloath them;
the supplementary militia begin exercising next Monday.

Mary Rees writes on the 15th December, 1797 : —

We have built a new meeting-house in Queen Street, the pulpit
is made very handsome ; they are going to make in it a mounting
gallery. It was opened on the 27th of November last.

David, however, seems to have been the family correspondent
from his earliest years, and his are the letters which are of such
value in telling the life's story of his nephew Rice. Our first
knowledge of him is on this wise, when David announces to
William, on the 5th April, 1804, the all-important news that —

Sister Sarah was safely delivered of a fine boy on Saturday
last, at half past four o'clock in the morning ; both she and the
child are likely to do well.

Sarah had married David Rees, a young farmer ; their home
was at the Tonn, near to Llandovery, and daily communication

152

was kept up between it and the printing-house home in the
town, where David lived, and where his nephew William —
Rice's younger brother — printed the " Welsh Saints " and other
volumes.

Rector Rees, of Cascob, seems to have taken especial interest
in his nephew from his birth. Every detail was submitted to
him, and his were the hand and the purse which educated the
lad, first at Llandovery, by the Rev. John Jeremy (p. 126), then
at Lampeter Grammar School, and lastly at Jesus College, Ox-
ford. When but six months old, Rice was stricken low with
illness, and we hear from David how

They are waiting for little Rice's recovery, who is now in the
small-pox.

His school-boy days at Llandovery were happy ones. Holi-
days were often spent at Cascob Rectory, whither the lad used
to ride in company with his uncle David ; and at intervals the
rector came over to Llandovery to visit his old home, and look
after Rice's progress. When but thirteen years old, he is re-
ported as

pursuing his studies with increased attention and rapidity. He
is now going over all the chapters in Clarke's 'Introduction ' tlie
third time. He has learnt the Latin Grammar several times:
the Latin Testament he has read and translated a great part of.
As to the "Corderii" and "Tenninations" he has long since laid
them by, having learnt them perfectly. He is now beginning
Odd's "Metamor," and the rudiments of the Greek language.
Will thank you, brother William, to let me know in your next,
wliat books would be most propei- for him to learn, in addition to
those already learnt: as he is intended for the cloth you can
advise what authors would be most suitable for him to peruse.

Uncle William's answer took the practical form of inviting
Rice to spend the summer under his roof, and, having tested
his nephew, decided that he should before long go to Lampeter,
to be one of the Rev. Eliezer Williams's pupils. On returning
to- Llandovery, Uncle David writes to the rector, under date the
1st August, 1818:—

Your arrangements of Bice's education has received our father's
and his parents' approbation, and they desire me to return you
many thanks for your kindness to him while at Cascob.

153

Rice's school life at Lampeter Grammar School has already
been told, very largely in his own words (p. 113). He began
attending it on the 2nd February, 1819, and remained until he
went up to Oxford, and entered as commoner of Jesus College,
on the 15th May, 1822. For the last year at Lampeter he

had a mess-mate, a young man, aged 17, Ebenezer Williams,
a native of the neighbourhood of Aberystwyth.

One of the first things done by the Rev. John Williams, after
assuming the office of headmaster on the death of the Rev.
Eliezer Williams, was to offer a prize for the best Latin poem,
the subject being, "In vates ab Edvardo primo ejus nominis Anglice
rege cotsos Elegeia." Eleven boys competed. The headmaster had
made the conditions that every poem sent up to him was not to
be in the handwriting of its composer, and was to be signed
with a motto or a pseudonym. The prize was awarded to one
who had taken for his motto the words " Magnorum indignus
avorumP It was Rice's first honour, and of his production the
headmaster spoke very highly.

Oxford and her ways were at first strange to Rice. Much of
his earliest weeks there was spent in furnishing his college
rooms. His immediate predecessor in them had left him seven
old chairs, and most of us know from experience that they must
have been indeed very old chairs, before any man would have
gone down without disposing of them to his advantage. Uncle
William paid for a modest amount of new furniture, and rode
over from Cascob to see that his nephew started fair at the Uni-
versity. He was an old Wadham man himself, and one for
whom no scout nor bedmaker had any terror.

Rice's first extant letter to his uncle from Oxford bears date
of the 29th January, 1823. In it he says : —

J begin to like Oxford better than I did, my acquaintances are
very civil and kind to me ; some of them are prodigal rakes whom
I must endeavour to avoid. . . . One pair of black silk hose
would be acceptable, which I am informed will be wanted, in case
1 should happen to dine with the Principal.

The expected invitation arrived before the black silk hose.
What happened we cannot say — possibly he borrowed a pair;

20

154

in any case we know from his letter of the 10th March, 1823,
that he

dined in company with five others at the Principal } s, the Sunday
before I received the parcel.

To his tutor, the Reverend Alfred Butler Clough, M.A.,
Fellow of Jesus College, 1817 — 1839, who became his close
friend, and remained so throughout Rice's life, he was attached
from the first. His references to him are both numerous and
happy, and show that master and pupil were on terms of in-
timacy, and enjoyed the confidences one of another. His circle
of acquaintances gradually increased, and many Lampeter men
were up at the same time as he was. We hear on the 21st
March, 1823, that

One of my old school fellows at Lampeter, Mr. George Harrie$>
of Pembroke Coll., was plucked, a second time, and has left the
University. . . . There are ten Lampeterians now at Oxford.

loan Tegid is also mentioned in this letter : —

"loan Tegid " has been absent for more than a month in Oaer-
marthenshire } and has not yet returned. When I saw him last
he enquired for you, and desired his respects ; he was then busily
occupied in composing an " awdl " on Lampeter College for next
Eisteddfod.

A year later he sends word to Cascob that

"loan Tegid" has just been appointed to some new preferment
at Christ Ch., worth above £800 per an. ; he will still retain hii
place as chaplain, and continue to be pecentor in the Cathedral,
and peipetual curate of St. Thomas. He has finished his edition
of the Welsh Common Prayer, and made a present of one of the
copies to the King x lohich was graciously received.

The life and work at Jesus College at this period get men-
tioned at intervals in Rice's letters. This on the 21st March,
1823, is of especial interest : —

About a fortnight ago a notice was posted up in the hall, signi-
fying that a premium of £10 would be given for the best trans-
lation into Welsh of the third of Archdeacon Jones 7 s sermons;

155

and also £6 to the best Welsh reader, and £4 to the second best.
The sermon to be delivered to Mr. Clough, on or before the 12th
April, next ; and the competition for the reading prizes to take
place in the hall on a convenient day, of which timely notice would
be given. The premiums for a Welsh essay, and Welsh poetry,
which were given to graduates, have been discontinued through
want of candidates. There are four who contend for the sermon
prize, and it is expected that there will be 15 or 16 competitors in
reading. I do not see any chance of my getting any of the prizes
before next year, therefore I will not try now. I have not yet
read in chapel. . . .

Jesus Coll. was some time ago very idle and depraved, but it
is now, through the exertions of the Principal and tutors, fast
improving, the proportion of reading men to Idlers is 1 in 3. As
to the University in general, . . . many leave it no better scholars
than they were when they entered, it corrupts the morals of many
men, and even among those I know, several think and talk of
nothing bid the gratification of their sensual desires.

St. David's Day was duly honoured, the anniversary of 1824
being graphically described to Uncle William : —

Last Monday being St. David's Day, the whole of the morning
service in chapel was read in Welsh by Mr. J. Jones, one of the
Fellows. All the members of the College, not excepting even the
Principal, appeared with leeks in their caps, which they continued
to wear throughout the day. At five, 121 sat down in our hall
and partook of a most sumptuous dinner, the number at the High
table was 23, among whom were the Vice Chancellor, the Heads
of Trinity and Exeter Colleges, and St. Alban and Edmund
Halls, of those at the low table 50 were strangers.

The following year we are told of an after-dinner concert in hall,
with Welsh speeches, penillion, and harp playing.

Rice was a hard worker at college, as indeed throughout his
short life. On the 6th November, 1823, he says : —

9 left Llandovery at three o'clock in the morning of the 17th
ult., by the mail, and reached Oxford by 11 at night. Tuesday I
was called up before the Tutors, to consult respecting lectures, when
they expressed themselves surprised at what I had done in the long
vacation.

156

One episode in his college career belongs also to this year, and
must be told in his Uncle David's words : —

Bice partook of the Lord's Supper on Easter Sunday. The
Principal gave him a sermon written by Dr. Calamy upon the
Communion , which removed his scruples respecting unworthiness.

Edmund Calamy, D.D., whose sermon was thus brought into
active service, and with such good result, was the well-known
biographical historian of nonconformity, whose great work, the
" Nonconformists' Memorial," is an account of the ministers
ejected or silenced after the Kestoration, particularly by the Act
of Uniformity, 1662.

The fact that Rice had received baptism at the hands of a
dissenting minister at Llandovery is referred to, more than once,
in his letters of this period. Writing to the rector of Cascob,
on the 7th December, 1825, he says : —

/ am to be admitted full scholar next Tuesday or Wednesday \ a
Certificate of Baptism is necessary. I told the Principal that my
Baptism was not registered f and that the minister who baptised
me was not living. He answered that I should get an oath
attested before a magistrate to prove my age; this I promised to
procure; he has no idea 'that I was baptised by a Dissenter,
nor do I mean to tell him.

The last words of this letter do not read well : what need had
he to conceal the honourable particulars ? Were not his parents,
at the time, actually members of the Independent congregation
at Llandovery, and his father a deacon of it 1

Before me is the original Register of Baptisms of the Queen
Street Independent Congregation, Llandovery ; from it I extract
the entry of baptism which Rice in 1825 told the Principal of his
college was not registered. The volume was then kept at Llan-
dovery, in the custody of the minister of the congregation, and
remained with him and his successors until 1837, when it was
deposited with Government, entries in it being then made legal
evidence, of the same value as those in any parish register.

Bice, s. of David Bees, Tonn, Llandovery, farmer, Tingat
parish, by Sarah his wife, was christened, April 10th, 1804, J>cr
Peter Jenkins, Pastor, Brichoed.

157

It is also of interest to note the entries* of the baptisms of Bice's
brothers and sister : —

David, christened, 20th Dec. 1805, per David Dames, Sardis
Gospel Pastor.

William, christened, 9th July, 1808, Per do.
Sarah, christened 19th July, 1813, per do.
TheophUus, christened, 25th July, 1815, per J. Jeremy.

With these entries in existence, in a clear hand, written in a
well-bound book, it is hard to believe that Kice could have made
any enquiry about it, and with the result that it was not forth-
coming if needed.

A few weeks later, Rice, then just twenty-two years of age,
received adult baptism at Llandingad Church. His uncle David
writes thus to Cascob : —

Llandovery, Ifii March, 1826.

The irksome affair of Rice's baptism took place in Llandingad
Church, the 2£th ult., The Rev. Mr. Davies, Dr. Williams, Rice,
and I being present.

It will be noticed that neither father nor mother were present
at the irksome affair, nor any relative, save Uncle David. With
this baptismal certificate in his pocket, Rice returned to Oxford,
and on the 29th March wrote communicating the pleasant news that
the baptismal certificate was accepted, through the kindly interference
of Mr. Clough.

Before the year closed he wrote to Cascob, saying : —

I have two pupils, Mr. Hamer and Mr. J. B. Gwyn, who mean
to go up for their Minor Examinations next Lent; and I give
ocjcasional assistance to St. G. A. Williams (son of the late Rev.
Eliezer Williams of Lampeter), who is to be examined for his
degree this term.

A fourth pupil came along, and on the 25th November the rector
of Cascob hears from Llandovery that

Rice having four pupils to attend to, it necessarily occupies
much of his time; and having so many is a proof of the high esti-
mation he stands in by his fellow Collegians, particularly your
friend, Mr. Clough,.. in placing the whimsical son of Gwallter
Mechain under his care.

158

How Eice was chosen for the Welsh professorship at St.
David's College was told in the chapter dealing with the
" Earliest College Days " (p. 89). One incident of that appoint-
ment, however, remains to be noted. Archdeacon Beynon desired
that both Principal Lewellin and Eice Eees should be examined
by himself, as to their knowledge of Welsh, prior to their taking
up the duties of their offices. What happened is best told by
Uncle David : —

Llandovery, 14-th March, 1827.

Your anticipations respecting Bice's examination in the Welsh
Language are at an end. Both Bice and the Principal wsre
determined not to be examined in Welsh; the Bishop did not
approve of it, and when the subject was mentioned to Mr. Harford
at the opening dinner, on St. David's Day, he said if the Principal
and Professor should submit to an examination by the Archdeacon
or any other person it would be a disgrace to them and the College,
and he hoped they would ad with firmness in opposing any attempt
of the hind, their competency being deemed satisfactory by the
Bishop's appointment.

One cannot help wondering what would have happened to the
college had the future Dean been there and then " ploughed " in
his Welsh !

On Trinity Sunday, 1827, Eice received deacon's orders at
Oxford. He writes to Cascob, saying : —

I am to be ordained to-morrow. Before I left Lampeter I
received a letter from Blackwell saying that my testimonials were
signed by eight, and that they, together with the rest of my papers,
were approved of by Bishop's Secretary. This raised my spirits,
as I found that the awkwardness of my Baptismal certificate would

trouble me no longer To-day we had the Bishop's charge,

and signed the articles. On Monday morning I return to Llan-
dovery. Dr. W. 0. Pughe and his son are here, and I have been
very much pleased with their company.

One other letter remains to be quoted, that in which he tells
his uncle at Cascob about his fellowship : —

Oxford, 22nd Dec., 1828.

I took my M.A. degree last Wednesday, and I was elected
Fellow of Jesus College this morning. I had no opponent, and

159

the exam, was little more than a matter of form, I am going
to-morrow to Tremains, Glam., to spend about a fortnight at Mr.
Llewellin's father. I must however, return so as to be here this
day three weeks, to be admitted probationary Fellow; and, at the
expiration of twelve months from that day, I shall be admitted
actual Fellow, from which time my income will commence.

He was through the gate-way at last ! Before him lay his short
life's work.

For twelve years he served St. David's College with a loyalty
and a devotion which knew no bounds. To his professorship
were added the duties of college librarian, and the catalogue of
books he compiled and printed is still of use.* He was likewise
appointed chaplain to the bishop of the diocese.

His "Essay on the Welsh Saints" is an enlargement of the
manuscript which won him the prize at the Gwent and Dyfed
Royal Eisteddfod, held at Cardiff in August, 1834. To its com-
pilation he gave much time and honest spade work, with the
natural result that its place as a classic on its subject was im-
mediately assured, and as such is held to-day. He dedicated it
to the Marquess of Bute, president of the Eisteddfod. Dating bis
preface from St. David's College, on the 24th November, 1836,
he concludes it with these words : — " Knowledge is the accumu-
lation of past experience, and all that the best informed writer
can expect to accomplish is to contribute but a trifle to the
general heap, leaving its amount to be estimated by his suc-
cessor."

•

* Rice was careful to note gifts. It is his clear hand which wrote, Vir Reverendu*
Johannes Hunter A.M. De Aberystwyth in Comitatu Ceretico, 188k, on the label inserted in
one of the treasures of the library, the " Articles whereupon it was agreed by the Arch-
bishoppes and Bishoppes of both provinces and the whole cleargie, in the Convocation
holden at London in the yere of our Lorde God, 1562, according to the computation of
the Churche of Englande, for the auoiding of the diversities of opinions, and for the
stablishyng of consent touching true religion. Put foorth by the Queenes aucthoritie.
Imprinted at London in Poules Churchyard by Richarde Iugge and John Cawood,
Printers to the Queenes Maiestie, in Anno Domini 1571 " ; and " a Booke of certaine
Canons concernyng some parte of the discipline of the Churche of England. In the
yeare of our Lord 1571. At Loudon, Printed by lohn Daye, dweUyng ouer Aldersgate."
These two prints, both in Latin and English, black letter, are bound in one volume, full
brown calf, labelled "Articles of Religion," and inscribed in donor's autograph on fly
leaf "The gift of the Rev. John Hunter to the Library of St. David's Coll., Lampeter,
March 19th, 1834."

The donor was a clergyman of delicate health, who then lived a retired life in Laura
Place, Aberystwyth, and devoted what strength he had to divers acts for the amelioration
of the poorer inhabitants of that town. One of the silver patens used at the parish
■church of St. Michael and All Angels was given by him, having previously been in
•domestic use. He died many years ago, away from Aberystwyth. The late Mrs. Fossett,
who knew him, gave me some particulars of his later life. — G.E.E.

160

No sooner was this work off his hands, than he was engaged
with the four Welsh bishops and three other clergymen, in pre-
paring for the Oxford University Press a corrected edition of
the Welsh folio Common Prayer. On the 2nd March, 1837, he
was admitted to the degree of Bachelor of Divinity. On the
20th May following, he died very suddenly.

It was on a Monday morning that the call came, as he was
returning to Lampeter from Cascob Rectory, where he had been
on a visit of a few days to his uncle. He had called at New-
bridge, about six miles from Builth, to bait his horse, and here
complained of illness, but left "apparently strong and hearty."
He had, however, scarcely crossed the bridge into Breconshire,
when he fell from his horse's back. A girl who was passing at
once came to his aid, but before a messenger had time to return
to the inn, Rice died on the roadside, with his head gently
resting on her lap. His body was taken home to Llandovery,
and buried in Llandingad Churchyard. He was not married.

Although portraits of his mother and two brothers are extant,
Rice never sat for his ; and his nephew, Mr. T. Aneuryn Rees, is
sure none exists. The writer's father, who knew Rice, alluded
to him, in 1902, as a handsome and open-faced man.

%hz girabe IHa-ffrinxipal.

Edward Harold Browne (1811 — 1891) played his part hi
the life of Lampeter for some seven years, and was for that
period a strong power for good within the walls of St. David's
College, where he followed Bishop Ollivant as its second vice-
principal.

Born at Aylesbury, Bucks, of an Anglo-Irish family — a branch
of the Brownes of the Neale — he claimed descent from Sir
Anthony Browne, K.G., standard bearer to Henry VII. and
Henry VIII., and one of the executors of the much-married
king. Going up to Eton when twelve years of age, he found
there, amongst his seniors, W. E. Gladstone, Elgin, Canning,
Spencer, Walpole, Selwyn (afterwards Bishop of Lichfield),
"Jerusalem Williams," and Charles Kean, the noted actor, with
whom he for a while came into close and daily connection.

The story of Harold Browne's interview with Dr. Keate
when presenting the headmaster with his "leaving tip" (an
old custom now rightly no longer in force) of a couple of £5
bank notes in an envelope, may be new to some readers. After
he had duly made his offering, what was the boy's astonishment,
when endeavouring to escape out of the dread presence of the
headmaster, to find himself solemnly addressed by Dr. Keate
with " Go back to your Dame's, boy ; and, when you leave, if
I find you wringing off knockers, or painting doors, I'll have
you back, sir, and flog you." And with this queer bit of
fatherly advice, the future Bishop of Winchester passed from
the jurisdiction of this mighty pedagogue, to his student days
at Cambridge.

His first sight of Wales was in 1832, when he spent the long
vacation there with a reading party, one of whom was John
Grote, the metaphysician. Admitted to priest's orders in Ad-
vent, 1837, with his Cambridge fellowship for a title ; married,
in 1840, to Elizabeth Carlyon ; and licensed to St. Sidwell's,
Exeter, as a perpetual curate, in 1842 ; such are the main events
in his life before the 10th April, 1843, the date. of the letter to
him from Dean Lewellin, enquiring whether he would be inclined

21

162

to enter into a negotiation on the subject of becoming vice-
president, with the Hebrew chair, at St. David's College.

So unexpected was this communication that Mrs. Browne
writes, At the time we knew nothing of Lampeter, not even being quite
sure as to where it was. At the close of the summer vacation of
1843 Mr. Browne removed to Lampeter, when the "Rebecca"
riots were in full swing. Close to the Vice-Principal's house
there stood a turnpike gate, and Dean Lewellin warned the new
comer that any night he might be aroused by "Rebecca." He
advised him to show no lights in any of the rooms, as it was one
of the unwritten laws of "Rebecca" that those who made no
sign should not be molested, while a light in a window would
be sure to attract unpleasant attention. This precaution Mr.
Browne unluckily could not take, for his little daughter Alice
had to have a light in her room; and perhaps he was inclined
to make little of the warning. If so, he was soon undeceived.
A few daj's later, about two in the morning, the family were
aroused by a volley of guns, and by the noise of the demolition
of the gate ; the light in a bedroom at once attracted the atten-
tion of the rioters, one of whom threw a turf and broke the
window, to the alarm of the invalid child and her nurse ; no
other damage was done, and, as Mrs. Browne said, We always
used to call it our first card.

Mr. Browne soon encountered far more serious difficulties than
were thrown in his way by the outbreaks of "Rebecca." The
College, after some fourteen years 'of existence, bad made but
little progress, and, as one of the onlookers said, Harold Browne
in 184.3 found it in the worst possible condition. The College had
not had a fair chance, and Browne, who went there eager for
studious work and teaching, soon found himself confronted with
some most trying questions of management. " His seven years
at Lampeter," says Dean Kitchin, " were a ceaseless struggle for
the rule of common sense and honesty." The main difficulty
lay in the relations between Principal Lewellin and the College.
Whatever the Vice-Principal may have felt or thought, he seems
to have laboured on in silence to 1848, and only to have begun
to show signs of restlessness in that famous "year of revolu-
tions." Then it was that Mr. Browne wrote a letter to the
Principal, the reading of which must have given Lewellin a
very uncomfortable quarter of an hour. He is told that the
very existence of the College is

163

not only threatened, but in imminent danger of dissolution ....
we are now so out of favour with the higher powers, with tlie
clergy, and most of all with the gentry, that nothing but a vigorous

effort can save us, and this, I fear, may be too late The

two things about which I have long heard the greatest complaints
are : —

(1) The inefficiency of our examinations, and the very unquali-
fied men we have admitted to the College. . . .

(2) The expense of the education here, the fact that the affairs
of the College are all administered by one, and that the most irre-
sponsible member of it ; that the Principal is at once tutor, bursar,
steward, and even farmer and butcher ; and that the accounts are
not sufficiently public. . . . I have constantly had to defend you
from accusations which are current against you ; and I am sure
you are in no degree aware of the intensity of the public feeling
against you. ... 7 may add that one of the greatest causes of
public indignation is that you provide the College from your own
farm. Whatever advantages may accrue from this, it is so very
unpopular a thing tliat I cannot but hope you will give it up.

Truly has it been said, " The evils which goaded Mr. Browne to
write this letter must have become an intolerable burden before
he could havebeen moved to take such decided action."

Mr. Browne had now received from the Bishop of Exeter the
offer of the important living of Kenwyn, near Truro, and he felt
that a man on the point of departure might speak his mind with
freedom and break through the crust of bad custom, and so leave
to his successor — Dr. Rowland Williams — a much better chance
of raising the College than he himself had enjoyed. It was
on the 7th November, 1849, that he addressed another long
letter to the Principal, of which we have the draft : —

It is now a question of the greatest moment, what steps the
College itself takes. It may either sink altogether, or be the chief
educator of the clergy of Wales. You know that the accounts are
the chief ground of complaint. I am sure that an enquiry will be
demanded from without, if it be not first courted from within.
.... But the accounts are not the only subject of complaint.
Another is that the business of the College is transacted by one
person. . . . It is added that the Principal, as being the least
easily called to account, is the very last member of the College who
ought to have such power entrusted to him. If you knew what is

164

said on this subject you would not think me unreasonable in
urging it on you. I have reason to think that all connected with
the College are as well aware as I am of what I say, and fully
agree in my view of the question. But I am in a position which
calls on me to be mover ; and though the position be a painful one
I am resolved not to shnnk from it. That my conduct in this is
that of your true friend I am also well assured ; though I am

always afraid that it may appear otherwise to you Believe

me that though I feel my first duty is to try and save the College
(and if I do not do it, no one else will), yet it is my hope and
earnest desire to serve you also.

Surely no man could write in plainer or kinder terms than did
Browne ; to him and the small body of men who really cared for
the welfare of the College, the matter must have been one of the
greatest pain ; yet if the Vice-Principal was not to speak out, and
that very plainly, to the Principal, who was to do it? "This
remarkable letter," writes Dean Kitchin, "is more eloquent in
what it does not say, than in what it does. The very vagueness
of it leaves an impression that things were on the edge of a kind
of revolution. Harold Browne was to be the Mirabeau of the
movement, which should end, not in the overthrow of the auto-
crat, but in the substitution of constitutional in the place of
irresponsible government".

Dean Lewellin appears to have received his Vice-Principal's
remonstrance in the same friendly spirit in which it was penned.
He replied without bitterness, expressing himself ready to meet
Mr. Browne, and to consider the suggestions laid before him.
But so far as Mr. Browne was concerned, it was now too late,
and he tells the Principal that he has accepted the offer of Ken-
wyn and Kea, and must therefore consider his days at Lampeter
as numbered ; but before leaving, he is anxious to lay before the
whole college body his own views on the methods of reform, and
to talk them over first with the Principal, if he so desired ;
adding to his letter proposing such a course : —

I trust my successor will be a more efficient and a more pro-
sperous man than I have been here, and that the College will soon
rise out of the cloud which has lately obscured it.

The decision to leave Lampeter was not hastily made. Mr.
Browne consulted friends whom he trusted, and especially

165

Bishop Thirl wall, who had approved the scheme of reformation
set before him by the Vice-Principal, accepted it, and convened
a meeting of the college staff, at which Mr. Browne moved his
resolutions, which were at once adopted as the bases of an
entirely new administration. Yes, reform had been initiated,
but only after Lampeter had been fatal, as, alas ! she was again
destined ere long to be, to one of the most gifted of her teachers.

The influence Mr. Browne exercised over all around him was
exactly what had been wanting at Lampeter before his time.
One old pupil writes :— He had immense influence over the men,
and raised the College to a high standard. We hear pleasant
things of his and Mrs. Browne's attention to the social side
of the students' lives — how they were invited to their house,
that they might see a little of the pleasures of a refined and affectionate
home life — an untold value as a humanising element for the
rougher Welsh students. In the Vice-Principal's drawing room
the # students found excellent tea, followed with the reading of
Hooker, and Pearson on the Creed, interspersed with his com-
ments and interesting conversation. A little time before his
leaving, the students joined in memorialising Mr. Browne,
begging him to publish his lectures on the Articles ; and when
they heard of his going, they collected a considerable sum of
money, and had his portrait painted by Graves, to be placed in
the college hall, where it hangs, as a memorial of a loved Vice-
Principal who struggled to lift the College to a higher level.

Of the clouds which darkened the happy domestic life of Mr.
and Mrs. Browne at Lampeter, a white marble cross in the
churchyard is the

Sign of a peace life could not mar,
And of a faith death could not shake.

It tells of the passing of their babes, Edith Dorothea, Clement
Gore, and Etheldreda Mary.

Of his subsequent career as Norrisian Professor at Cambridge,
as Bishop of Ely, and finally as Bishop of Winchester and Prelate
of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, this chapter treats not,
but closes with the sentiments expressed by Bishop Jayne in
1880, when, as Principal, he conveyed to Bishop Browne that
invitation which resulted in his re-visiting the town and taking
part in the opening of the enlarged college chapel — In the whole
town of Lampeter your memory is tvarmly cherished.

Rowland Williams (1817 — 1870), Anglican divine, and Vice-
Principal of St. David's College, brought the name of Lampeter
more prominently before the world than anyone who had pre-
viously livejl and worked within its borders. Called, in 1850,
from the ease and intellectual charms of his classical chair at
King's College, Cambridge, to the laborious life and up-hill
work of a college then said, with probably a certain amount
of truth, to be " on the brink of dissolution," it showed of what
metal he was made, when he answered the call and came back
to Wales — the land of his birth — not to leave it again until he
had made the name of St. David's College one to be trusted, and
had set the firm foundations upon which its future stability has
been reared.

Two vice-principals had held office before him — Dr. Ollivant,
who left to sit on the bishop's stool at Llandaff ; and the loved
Harold Browne, who bad himself initiated at the college those
reforms, which, as he wrote to Rowland Williams in 1850, had
made him feel the post all but untenable. Grave evils had crept
into the- administration of the College — evils so grave and so
serious as to warrant Harold Browne' in sending the two letters
(p. 163) to Principal Lewellin, the like of which no college head in
Great Britain better needed. On all sides existed the strongest
prejudice and hardest suspicions against the Principal, at once
tutor, bursar, steward, and even farmer and butcher of the college to
which Rowland Williams came, and with indomitable will set
himself to purge of its evils.

Needless is it to say, such reformation as he succeeded in
effecting was not accomplished without much anxiety and annoy-
ance. The prejudices which he found existing against the
College, and to which the gross mismanagement of its affairs
laid it open, were not easily to be overcome. He had much
opposition inside the walls, and less sympathy outside them.

The account which. he sent to his father of the journey to
Lampeter is of interest : —

vTiie Iticbcrcnt v vTruth-scckcv.

'• 'Wi,, n'v v. f:ir.,\;s '.S!7 —1870;, Anglican divii:-;. an i '»
«'' n ;:.si of 8c. f>MVMi*» College, brought the name ot !.;■;.
> . • •" tuinentlv l.» it »-c the world than anyone »'jh ; • ■ • •
y';- "riy lived and *■. v. kid within its borders. IV led, u« ! - • ,
'"•>;ui the ease and inr.'i'"e:p d charms of his classic^ 1 <U ,
'**'/"• College. < \i:iihri..ij»\ to the laborious life and •.<{•*•.•:
\\->\ of a colh go then <.o'd, with piobably a ■ ertain amor.'.'
■I Vith to lx- *• on the brink of dissolution," it shewed of wS r
• i< be v is m>i' ! o. when he answered the t.ul and came back
;.» V.. v the I md «-f his birth- -not to leave it a^.tiu until In*
i • ' n >-de : • rr*m«; <»i '">! lUvid's College one to be trusted, mi
;,.t< ; M»' - !inn innmiatiuns upon which it*, future stability 1m-

T-\'. » : ee ptitK-pals hud held office before him--Dr. OUlvant.
• :.«. Jet: u> Mt on the bishops stool at LlandaiF; and the love* 1
H jo'ul Ijiowne, who had himself initiated at the college thos--
i'. tM-in*. Vvhich, as he wrote to Rowland \\ il!?*»ra- in 1*-X>, h.-.i
i";tue i.nu /••*/ the jwt all but mtfrnnhk. *» ,i\e evils had crept
int" t.K adadiiMratiori of the College — evils so grave and so
; ;T ; vi»ts ;^. *o warrant Harold Browne in sending the two letters
; ■«. : •'•")) :<■ Principal Lewellm, the lile of which no college head in
: v.j. I!' .ain better needed. On all sides existed the strongest
•K'ce and hardest suspicions against the Principal, at on<\
l»tt,.-itt % «•/ want, Oi"i even former an>! hufrhsr of the college n»
'••• ■-■h K««w:at»d Williams came, and with indomitable wii! v-i
h\- % ..-If ;. pmge of its evils.

N* .'db^-i is it to say, such reformation as he succeeded iu
"*!•■ • »••• w: not accomplished without much anxiety and annoy.
••■ue The prejudices which he found existing against the
1 V.V':' . and to which the gross mismanagement of its? art. ir>
Lid i'. ' pen, were not easily to be overcome. He had n\w\
oi -noii m«Iik 'he wall*, and less sympathy outside them.

Tiic a».'nHiii which he sent to his father of the journey t<»
Li'.iiipe.e: i*> >f interest : —

THE NEW YORK

PUBLIC L13RARY

ASTOH, LENOX AND
TILDEN FOWNDATICNS.

167

St. David's College, 6th April, 1850.

. . . I was rather thrown out by finding no steamer to Carmarthen,
and no coach direct to Brecon. A '• small steamer, however, took me as
far as Newport [from London] on Wednesday, and one coach to Aber-
gavenny, and a second to Brecon, and the next morning I left at nine
by the mail. At Llandovery I found the Archdeacon [of Cardigan,
formerly vicar of Lampeter, John Williams] grinding his class,
and was shown his school by him, as well as generally received with

kindness The feeling between the two institutions [Llandovery

School and St. David's College] is not quite so amicable as I could
wish, and it will be my endeavour to patch up a peace if possible. I
posted over here, twenty miles, over a considerable Bwlch.

Ere many days he visited Bishop Thirlwall, whom he found
*" exceedingly kind, and in a grave way agreeable."

Eleven lectures weekly, and a sermon on Sunday, kept him
busy for his first term ; still he found time " daily to transplant
daffodils, and hew down branches of an overhanging sycamore in
the garden." A great walker and rider, he was not long before
he explored the country, " till he knew every feature of interest,
whether ancient or modern, natural or the work of man, for
miles around." When walking or riding alone he contracted the
habit of unconsciously talking and praying aloud, and thus giving
vent to disturbing reveries, which he once forcibly described as
" the wild horses of rhetorical remonstrance flitting through my
brain." A few miles out of Lampeter was a wild spot, about
which he used to ride, praying aloud in this manner. He named
the place " Bryn Gweddi " — the hill of prayer. Some time later
he writes* in his private diary : —

The Bryn on vthich I used to ride round, passionately praying,
has been hedged up, so that I cannot well get there ; this partly
falls in as a sign with my mental feeling, that not merely
passionate prayer, but steady work and conscientious exertion is
a means of peace.

He soon found that the sea is visible from Bryngoleu, some
four and a half miles from the college, and hears " that in clear
weather one sees from the same spot Bardsey, and at night its
revolving lights."

In the chapel he was from the first a frequent preacher ; from
its pulpit very many of his " heretical " sermons were delivered.

168

During his last three years at the college, Principal Lewellin's
diary (p. 70) for that period bears witness that Dr. W. occupied
the pulpit on an average once every Sunday in term time ; then
comes the entry,

12th June, 1862, Dr. Williams left for Bd. Chalke,

and there is no further reference to him in its pages. In 1858
his turn for preaching is once a fortnight, and very generally, he
writes, my text comes from some service for the day. Last Sunday y
Micah vi. 2 — "Hear ye, mountains, the Lord's controversy,
and ye strong foundations of the earth," with the "Christian
Year" poem for the day, which is worth turning to if the reader
does not quite remember it, suggested the lessons of mountain
scenery and the relations of Nature to Christianity. One who
heard this sermon, and was himself ere long to be called on to
to teach Hebrew to Cardiganshire's sons — Professor Evans, of
the Presbyterian College — often used to describe it as simple,
great, and true. Between the two Welshmen, widely apart as
they were in many thoughts, there existed an acquaintanceship
which did honour to both.

.Occasionally he lent a hand to his brother ministers, helping
them in' their services. In September, 1859, writing from Aber-
ystwyth to his sisters, he says : —

I assisted a Cardiganshire vicar in administering the Sacra-
ment on Sunday. He gives no morning service, though he has
only one church. His green baize cloth, the gift of a good old
woman, appeared from under the white sacramentary cloth, which
was not enough to cover the whole table. The bread was put in a
lump, and he coolly cut with his pocket-knife (11) the quantity he
deemed requisite. A little even of Puseyism would not be amiss
as antidote in such a case. You would have almost fainted ; I
grinned sardonically^ but with a sort of internal shudder. Poor
E. thought it was Welsh.

One Lampeter scene must likewise find a place here, ere pro-
ceeding to other matters. On the 11th June, 1857, Williams
took his degree of D.D. ; and about the same time he became
Senior Fellow of bis college, and preached, as was then cus-
tomary upon taking a degree, a Latin sermon at St. Mary's. It
was not known at St. David's College for what purpose he had
gone to Cambridge ; but when the news reached Lampeter there

169

were great rejoicings. Loud cheers resounded in the quadrangle
and college grounds. The college bell was rung throughout the
day ; and the students prepared to welcome him on his return
with an enthusiasm which gratified him much, in its testimony
to the love and respect they bore him. "Long before he
arrived, at half-past ten/'* says the Cambrian, " the Llandilo road
was occupied by the principal inhabitants of the neighbourhood ;
and when the carriage reached Cwman turnpike gate, about a
mile from Lampeter, ropes were attached, and a large body of
students drew him to the town, and up and down the length of
the High Street, amidst the enthusiastic cheering of the in-
habitants, the ringing of the church bells, and every demonstra-
tion of affectionate attachment."

To right the college finance ; to bring order into the adminis-
tration of its affairs ; to raise it in the estimation of literary and
ecclesiastical circles — generally speaking, to bring about its
re-formation, and that with Dr. Lewellin as his Principal, was a
formidable and an up-hill task, which Rowland Williams had to
accomplish "through dreary twilight," but he did not despair.
From the day he became Vice-Principal of the College, in all
matters connected with its welfare, however much or little it
appeared, he was virtually the mainspring, instigating others to
action, and referred to on all occasions by those who were
interested in promoting the well-being of the College. Arch-
deacon Williams, by his vindictive, indiscriminate abuse, was the
means of causing Dr. Williams to bring out his pamphlet entitled
" Some Account of the Actual Working of St. David's College,"
in which he refers, not without a touch of indignant satire, to
the unjustifiable attack made upon it by the former vicar of the
parish. Through good report and evil, Dr. Williams went on
his way, and great indeed was his satisfaction when Mr. Thomas
Phillips sent him word from London, on the 10th June, 1852,
that "your charter is un fait accompli"; and on the thirtieth
anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone by Bishop
Burgess, the supplemental charter, which gave St. David's
College the power of conferring the degree of B.D., reached
Lampeter. Ere he resigned and the College had lost its most
distinguished resident, the Principal's autocratic power over the
finance, the commissariat, and the domestic management of the
College, had been broken.
- It was in May, 1855, that Rowland Williams published some

22

170

twenty sermons delivered at Lampeter, giving to the book the
title of " Rational Godliness after the Mind of Christ." In these
sermons were enunciated the liberal views for which he was
afterwards to become famous. Their publication involved him in
that controversy which affected his position at Lampeter, and
led him to accept from his college the vicarge of Broadchalke.
It was in South Wales that the book was most vehemently
assailed. The outcry was chiefly an " evangelical " one ; the
High Church party, in the main, left the book alone, recognising
in its theory, " the Bible, the voice of the Church," teaching akin
to their own. Reading its pages now that half a century has
passed away, we say as its writer did, in 1865, ''How tame the
book would be considered now." It was in advance of its time,
and in the storm which broke over the head of "The Reverent
Truth-seeker "he shared the fate of a solitary pioneer, who dares
to leave the beaten track, and venture on untrodden ground.

The storm was at its height when, at the close of 1856,
Dr. Williams found some satisfaction in the completion and
publication of his great, perhaps his greatest, literary work,
" Christianity and Hinduism " — an expansion and completion of
that essay which, in 1847, had won him the "Muir" prize.
Amongst the many pleasing tokens of appreciation which this
work brought its author, none was more valued than the friend-
ship which ensued between him and the Chevalier Bunsen,
whose daughter is Mrs. Harford, of Blaise Castle, widow of John
Batteraby Harford. Williams visited Bunsen at Heidelberg in
the long vacation of 1857, when, sitting "cuddled up in a big
chair," he heard his host read, in "his grand, deep, clear, sonorous
voice," the damp sheets of the proof pages of the preface to his
" Bibelwerk." It was then, too, that Dr. Williams met Ellen
Cotesworth, who shortly afterwards became his wife. It was the
calm before the next and greater storm raised by "Essays and
Reviews."

The time had now come when he felt he must leave his loved
Lampeter. On the 30th November, 1858, he was presented
by King's College, as. lay patrons, to the vicarage of Broad-
chalke. It was a critical period for him. The first time he
preached there, he prayed "God secretly in the chancel that
I might gather and not scatter, heal and not wound, build up
and not break down."

On the 27th April, 1859, he was married at Liverpool, and

171

brought his wife to Lampeter, where they "received a most
brilliant triumph of cheering, arches, illuminations, and carriage-
drawing, all of which amazed our weak minds not a little."

Dr. Williams kept his terms at college until June, 1862, when
he said farewell to the house he had so heroically served. The
" great flitting " to Broadchalke had been made at the beginning of the
long vacation in the pevious year. On the morning of Whitsun Day,
1862, he administered Holy Communion for the last time in the
college chapel ; and in the evening the little chapel was crowded
to excess with his pupils and friends from the neighbourhood to
hear his last words. One* who heard it told me that the im-
pression made on the congregation was no ordinary one, as the
preacher before his sermon recited the collect, " (rod, merciful
Father, that despisest not the sighing of a contrite heart, nor the
desire of such as be sorrowful." Few knew what it cost him
to leave Lampeter. He had accomplished much, very much, for
the College. As Canon Perowne, his successor, said of him, " he
swept away grave abuses, and introduced salutary reform, with
a firmness and vigour which few men would have shown ; and if
he met constant opposition, and brought upon himself no small
amount of obloquy in consequence, he must have had the satis-
faction of feeling that he had conferred a lasting benefit on
the College." On Monday, the 9th June, he bade farewell to
Lampeter.

To return now to the year 1860, in which the famous "Essays
and Reviews" appeared. To its pages Dr. Williams had con-
tributed an essay on " Bunsen's Biblical Researches " ; but it was
not until some time later, when attention was called to the
volume from a rational point of view, by an article in the West-
minster BevieWy that the excitement arose, which found vent in
Convocation and elsewhere. Williams was one of the two
essayists selected for prosecution on the charge of heresy, and
upon his head was principally laid the sins of the whole seven
writers. The suit was promoted by Dr. Hamilton, Bishop of
Salisbury, with whom, by the way, Williams had a somewhat
memorable interview, when waiting upon him for institution
to Broadchalke. Not very long before, it will be remembered,
he had published his " Rational Godliness." The Bishop, so soon
as his visitor was seated, proceeded to say : " Dr. Williams, I
have read your book, and — " "O my lord," interrupted Dr.

* My father.-rG.E.E.

172

Williams, "if your lordship is going to take up a position against
me — " "Pardon me, Dr. Williams, rejoined the Bishop, "I was
going to say that I have read your book very carefully, and that
I find nothing in it which would prevent my instituting you to
the living of Broadchalke." It was but a conflict postponed.
The suit dragged on in the Court of Arches and before the
Judicial Committee until February, 1864, when Dr. Williams's
opinions were declared to be tenable by a clergyman of the
Church of England. It was this decision which led to the issue
of the " Oxford Declaration," by which a large number of clergy-
men avowed their belief that the doctrine of everlasting punish-
ment is a fundamental article of the Church's creed. Even now
the memory of the storm raised by the essay and the prosecution
cannot be recalled to mind without wonder and amazement. At
the basis of the controversy lay the question how far theological
subjects might be subjected to scientific inquiry, or how far they
must be received unquestioned upon authority ; but the clamour
that was raised was little suitable to the calm investigation of
truth — the literary aspects of the question were overlooked, and
it was little remembered that religion can gain nothing by
the falsifying of Hermeneutics.

Writing from his remote parsonage at Colyton, in Devon, at
that period, Professor Evans tells his father, Esau Evans, of
Ffynon Inglis, that —

Last Saturday I ivas at Exeter, at the yearly meeting of the
" United Brethren of Devon and Cornwall" a society established
in the year 1655, when Oliver Cromwell was ?uling the country.
Its aim is to create a closer union amongst Dissenting minister's,
apart from the Established Church. At the time we were listening
to the sermon, a Doctor Lushington was delivering his verdict in
his Court in London on an article by Dr. Williams, the professor
in Lampeter College. About two years ago Dr. Williams pub-
lished an article in the English language, in a noted book —
" Essays and Reviews, " He is vicar of a parish called Broad-
chalke, in the Diocese of Salisbury, not very far from Colyton.
What did the Bishop do but hing a charge of heresy against
Dr. Williams, in the Court of Arches. He charged your eminent
neighbour in seventeen articles. Dr. Lushington rejected fifteen
of the articles, as irrelevant to the charge against WiUiams. In
only two of the articles did Dr. Lushington judge that there was
any foundation for the charge ; but that the Bishop must, if he

173

wishes to renew the trial, review these two. The articles treat on
the Jtonement, which, according to the Bishop, Williams denies.
The result is that the Bishop of Sarum failed to obtain a verdict
against Williams. So far, the Lampeter Professor has won in
th£ battle with the Bishops, and many hundreds rejoice, honestly
believing that the verdict will be of great service to liberty of
religious speech in the Established Church.

Needless to say, the proceedings, at their various stages, gave
opportunity to Dr. Williams's numerous friends, amongst men
and women of all shades of thought, of expressing their sym-
pathy with him. At the close of his brilliant speech before the
Lord Chancellor — afterwards published as " Forty Minutes with
the Privy Council " — a low murmur of applause among the by-
standers made itself heard. Of a letter from Dr. Martineau,
Williams wrote, There are few men whose sympathy is better worth
having. Frances Power Cobbe he notes as one of the most vigorous
writers on the side of freedom of religious thought. To Bishop
Colenso he writes, My sympathies have been substantially with you
all along, although as an ex-Fellow of the least arithmetical body in
Europe, I was less inclined, or qualified, than mankind in general
to do sums upon Mount Sinai. The Rev. Joseph Matthews, then
professor of physical science at St. David's College, is told that
it is well to have the affair ended, and especially for it to have ended
with a legal sanction of that amount of freedom which it always seemed
natural to expect, and which the Church greatly needs ; whilst to the
Rev. A. Jessopp he says that good Dr. Pusey's wrath is the most con-
solatory feature of my present Jwrizon.

The few remaining years of Dr. Williams's earthly life were
lived in his Broadchalke parish, where, it may be noted in
passing, he never used the so-called Confession of St. Athan-
asius in the church services. He used to say, if the Bishop
objected — happily his lordship never interfered in the matter —
to its omission, he should read it under protest, that is, "he
should as often as it occurred preach a sermon upon it, ex-
plaining how it arose, and to what controversies its statements
referred."

He kept himself well abreast with the events of the world ;
his reading was omnivorous, and cosmopolitan ; five days before
his passing he was poring over Crabbe Robinson's "Diary,"
whom he notes as a Bury Disinter, a "Times" co-respondent, a

174

whilom banister, and an Unitarian senator of the London Uni-
versity ; be corresponded with bishops, priests, and ministers,
with Temple, Kegan Paul, J. B. Mozley, and Marti neau, to
whom one of his last letters was addressed, in which he asks,
If John was not John, I should very much like lo know who was
John (this being in reference to the question of the Johannine
authorship of the fourth gospel).

At daybreak of the 18th January, 1870, uttering the words
"Our Father," to his higher service the spirit of Rowland
Williams sped its way. At St. David's College, his funeral
sermon was preached by its Latin and Logic professor, the Rev.
C. G. Edmondes, M. A. ; and in its chapel is a memorial tablet to
him, who had said, Lampeter it not for me, but I for Lampeter, and
for those, greater things which Lampeter ought to serve. HiB body
rests at Broadchalke.

briefer gUagnrphies.

By BEN MORUS.

David Jones. His birth-place is not known, but certain re-
ferences seem to point to Cellan as the place where his early
years were spent. Was vicar of Llandyssilio, in Caermarthen-
shire, where he was silenced in 1662. Returning to Cellan, he
undertook a new version of the Welsh Bible,* and, says Calamy,
"distributed 10,000 of them. He also printed the Assembly's
Catechism, in Welch twice, Mr. Allein of Conversion, and Mr.
Pritchard the old Puritan's Poem, which did much good in Wales.
He was generously assisted in these things by Lord Wharton,
and many other persons of quality, and by the ministers and
citizens of London. But while he was labouring to do good to
souls in this barren country, he met with much difficulty and
opposition. Once a writ de excom. cap, was out against him." t
The date of his death is unknown.

Timothy Davies (1753—1813). Born in a small farmstead
to the south of Lampeter ; never had one day's schooling ; learnt
the trade of a shoemaker ; became a member of Alltblaca Chapel,
but after the building (1802) of Capel y Groes, .went there.
After marriage lived at Ffos y Ffin, Cellan; he "described
himself as ' Masnachwr Llewyg y Blaidd ' — i.e., hop merchant —
in a small tract he published in 1812 ; in this tract he refers to
corporal punishment in schools as the * arferiad gwarthus o guro
plant' — i.e., the disgraceful custom of caning children; he was
also a farmer." J. His pamphlets received hearty reception and
large circulation from his fellow countrymen. He died in 1813.
His son John is separately noticed below. Mr. Thomas Evans,
Troedyrhiw, Cellan, has some good recollections and stories
about the father and son.

* 1689-90: " Y Bibl Cyssegr-lan Llundain, gan Charles Bill, a Thomas Newcomb."

6th edition, edited by Revs. Stephen Hughes and David Jones ; contains Prys's Psalms ;
7|" x 4|". Copy shown (No. 21) in the Exhibition of Welsh Bibles, Cardiff, 1904.

t Palmer's Abridgment, 1775, ii., 621.

t " Unitarian Students at the Presbyterian College, Carmarthen, in the XIX. Cen-
tury," R[ees] J[enkin] J[ones], 1901, p. 20.

176

David Saunders (1769—1840). Born at Undergrove, Lam-
peter; educated by D. Jones, D61 Wlff; baptized by the Eev.
Timothy Davies, and became a member of Aberduar Chapel,
when about fifteen years of age ; soon his name spread as an
eloquent and talented speaker. His father saw in David real
elements of a preacher, who, in October, 1797, began speaking
on "The Good News"; stayed at home for years, farming
during the week, and preaching on Sundays. In 1800, ordained
at Aberduar as assistant to the Revs. Timothy Davies, Zechariah
Thomas, and David Davies ; laboured here for fifteen years.
Married Margaret Jenkins, D61 Wlff; left for Merthyr Tydfil,
13th July, 1815, as minister of Zion Baptist Chapel ; during his
stay here baptized over five hundred adults ; became famous
throughout Wales as a powerful preacher. His wife died sud-
denly, in October, 1817, at Llandovery, when on her way to
visit her relatives; in October, 1827, a son was killed through
falling into the docks at Bristol. Married, secondly, a widow,
Catherine Joseph, on the 29th June, 1829. In 1837 was para-
lysed, losing memory and speech. On the 3rd February, 1840,
he faced eternity with a smile, and a prayer of thankfulness on
his lips. He was a writer and a translator of various books ;
author of awdlau and englynion ; several of his hymns are used
by all denominations ; his friendly poetical debate with Davis,
of Castell Hywel, on the Trinity, is in "Telyn Dewi." His
biography was edited by the Rev. J. Williams (loan ab loan),
Aberduar. .

Arthur Williams|J (1771—1844). A Lampeter man; edu-
cated at the Presbyterian College, Swansea, 1791 — 1794. "For

|| On Friday evening, 5th May, 1905, we visited our ancient friend, Mr. Thomas Evans,
still living in the same cottage at Troedyrhiw, Cellan, in which he was born on the 2«th
December, 1818. He well remembers Arthur Williams. "One day," said Thomas, "a
woman from Cellan told a friend to give a call on the Rev. Arthur Williams at Lampeter.
'No, I won't, I don't like him.' 'Why not?' asked the woman. 'Because he always
preaches the truth, and wants us all to be as good as one another.' " Thomas is grandson
of Evan John, shoemaker, who was buried in Cellan churchyard on the 27th March, 1784.
Said he, " My grandfather lived to be a very old man. About 1710, he and some friends
from Cellan and Ffaldybrenin used to go for miles to a remote place known as Pillbo to
worship every Sunday. They were Arminians. Have often heard my father (Nathaniel
Evans) tell of this." Thomas has long been the senior member of the Caeronen Unitarian
congregation. Daniel Ddu he knew well ; was starting off to Maesnewydd to learn some
Welsh verses from him on the very morning when news came of his death. "No, no,
Daniel bach never got drunk nor had any child ": this he said most emphatically over
and over again to us. When a young man, he had heard an elderly doctor, whose health
was the envy of all his neighbours, give his recipe for such in these lines : —

177

fifty years a faithful minister of the Presbyterian order. "§ For
little or no remuneration, served frequently at Alltblaca, Caer-
onen, Ciliau Aeron, and Cribyn ; had no settled pulpit. From
1799 until shortly after Vicar Eliezer Williams settled at Lam-
peter, and re-established the Grammar School, he conducted it,
and had many scholars from the town and district. Of seventeen
children, by his wife Rachel, their son, Thomas Morgan (b. 1804)
was minister, 1830 — 1842, of the quaint chapel, built in 1689, in
King Edward Street, Macclesfield ; Herbert was vicar of Llan-
arthney ; Margaret was mother of Mr. Arthur Price, Lampeter ;
Rachel lived and died at Pembroke Dock ; Anne married farmer
Francis, of Llandilo, where also her sister Mary had a farm.
Several died in their infancy ; three sons at least were christened
Benjamin, no two of whom lived at the same time. He died on
the 13th May, 1844, the interment being made in the parish
churchyard by the Rev. T. Emlyn Thomas (Taliesin Craig-y-felin),
and the Rev. William Davies, Ph.D., of Ffrwdi'al.

David Williams Dewi Farfog (1777—1861). An old local

character ; served as a blue-jacket under Lord Nelson ; on the

"Victory"* with that famous admiral at Trafalgar. Returned to

his native place, and became a gamekeeper on the Falcondale

estate. Lived in a small thatched cottage at the back of the

"Globe Inn" (where now stands the "Royal Oak Hotel"), with

his son Daniel (Daniel Gloff). Composed popular ballads, and

several englynion; his muse was always ready wherever he would

go. One day, seeing a clergyman and his coachman driving

by in style, he said : —

Peth s^n yw gwel'd 'ffeiradyn,
Yn marckog mewn cerbydyn,
A'i was banerawg ar ei ol, —
Iesu ar ebol asyn.

On another occasion, when passing the door of the Rev. D.
Silvan Evans, M.A., at that time the Welsh professor at St.
David's College, he said : —

Both wine and women I refuse,

Supper late I never use ;

Keep my neck and feet from cold,

And wonder not that I'm so old. — 6.E.E., B.M.

| Cf. tombstone, "erected by public subscription," in Lampeter churchyard. — B.M.

* The author's grandfather, Commander George Eyre Powell, was appointed First of
the "Victory" at Portsmouth, on the 4th February, 1840.— B.M.

23

178

Ai dyna le Daniel Las,

Y gem doeth i gymdeithas ?

Perhaps his best verses — those to his friend Mr. William
Thomas, of the "Black Lion," Llanybyther, when going out
to California — are the most readable of all his compositions : —

! 'r cyfaill, William, oofia,
Fod golud yn nhir Gwalia ;

Na ro dy feddwl byth ar ol
Uffemol Galiffornia.

Fod genyt, cyn myn'd trosodd
Bellterau o filltiroedd ;
A'r Hong, o bosibl, suddo lawr,
Yn merw mawr y moroedd.

Neu achos it' glafychu,
A'r enaid i ymranu,
A thaflu 'th gorff vn gelain o'r,

1 bysgod mor i besgu.

Neu colli 'th wraig hoff, gallwedd,
A'th blant mewn dygn agwedd,
A'u dagrau 'n Hi' wrth feddwl am
Eu geirwir fam fo'n gorwedd.

Pan elo ti o dalaeth
Fwyn de*g dy enedigaeth,
Yn mhell o th fro, ni wella 'th fraint,
herwydd maint dy hiraeth.

Mae 'n well i ti o lawer,
Na gwylltu i'r fath bellter,
Gael gras i fyw mewn isel fan,
A bedd yn Llanybydder.

One day he was fishing in Teifi, by Brongest. Who came by
but Dean Lewellin. As soon as Dewi saw him, he put on a
clownish look, lashing his rod back and fore to the river, like a
wild man. " Dili ! Dai ! ! For goodness sake, what are you
trying to catch V asked the Dean. "Oh ! the devil, sir." " What's
thy bait, Dai ? " "A clergyman, sir ; the devil is such a friend
to him, that 'tis very seldom a minute is spent that he does not
swallow one with eagerness." t He was a great friend to Daniel
Ddu; possessed a rare wit; and died, on the 27th January,

t Told to us, without the shadow of animosity to the cloth, by old Thomas (p. 176), who
was passing at the time of the occurrence.— G.B.S., B.M.

179

1861, at his lodgings in Cefnbryn Terrace, being buried in the
parish churchyard. Some time before his death he ordered the
following lines to be put on his tombstone, " if he got one ": —

Dyma 'r bedd lie gorweddaf ; — yn rhodio
Khan adwedd ni byddaf ;
Darfu mwynddydd, hirddydd haf,
Cudd hirnos cauodd arnaf.

His son, Daniel Glojff] was also a man of wit, and a bard of
the old school. Born in 1811, he died at Ty'n Talcen, Llanwnen,
and was buried at Capel y Groes, the 6th February, 1879. For
some of his verses see Yr Ymofynydd, 1878-79, pp. 264, 284.

Thomas Hugh Jones (1778 — 1847). The son of Thomas
and Anne Jones, of Neuadd Fawr, in the parish of Lampeter.
Educated first at local schools, and afterwards, for some time, at
Worcester Grammar School. His father was a physician of
of repute, but soon after his son's return home, the boy's fame
as a bone-setter spread in all directions. His achievements in
this art were said to be " marvellous and half miraculous." To
show his expertness and skill in this direction, the following
extract is taken. from Yr Ymofynydd for May, 1859 : — ". . . Dech-
reuodd ei dalentau rhagorol ddisgleirio yn mhell uwchlaw neb
ag oeddynt wedi cael eu haddysgu fel meddygon, yn enwedig
mewn cyweirio aelodau. Gallaf ddywedyd i mi fod yn llygad-
dyst o „weled llawer yn dyfod i'r Neuadd mewn cerbydau a
cheirt, ac yn alluog cyn ymadael i fyned oddi amgylch heb
gynorthwy un o honynt. Gwelais hefyd lawer tlawd anafus,
nid yn unig yn cael ei wella oddiwrth ei ddolur corphorol, ond
hefyd yn cael ei wella yn ei amgylchiadau trwy ei haelfrydedd."
He was one of nature's gentlemen ; as a landlord, ever ready
to give a helping hand to the poor ; free from any pomp and
pride, sometimes seen in men of his situation; and a promi-
nent leader in county matters. He died on the 29th January,
1847, his body being interred in a private cemetery he had made
close to the mansion.! The address at the grave was delivered

X The only burial in this cemetery, other than four members of the family, is that
of Dafydd Thomas (d. 1857, set. 88), "Ac a gladdwyd, ar ei daer ddeisyfiad, yma gerllaw
ei gymwynaswr goreu," i.e., " Who was buried, by his own earnest desire, at this spot,
near his best patron." The story goes that Dafydd craved this one favour from Thomas
Hugh Jones, who predeceased him by ten years. "Why?" asked T.H.J. "Because,"

180

by the aged Unitarian minister, the Rev. Thomas Thomas, J.P.,
of Green Park, who, in the course of it, alluded to the fact that
he then officiated at the third of the five burials in that ground.
At the Lampeter Eisteddfod, 1859, a prize of £10 for the best
elegy, " Pryddest er Cof am T. H. Jones, Ysw.," was awarded to
the late Rev. T. Thomas (Cymrci), Independent minister of
Cellan, Llanfair Clydogau, and Llangybi.

Timothy Davis (1786 — 1849). Born at Pentreshon, Lam-
peter ; educated by his uncle at Castell Hywel, and at the
Presbyterian College, Caermarthen. Afterwards became a Uni-
tarian minister at Oldbury, 1812—1845. Died April 13th, 1849,
and was buried at Cradley. He contributed in prose and verse
to Seven Gomer, &c. ; some of his manuscript sermons may be
seen in the Cardiff Free Library. His poem, "A Visit to Pentre-
shon," is well known, and came under the public eye first in
Seven Gomer, 1830, and was reprinted in Yr Ymofynydd, 1851,
p. 168. In his "Unitarian Students," p. 14, the Rev. Rees J.
Jones, M.A., says that "Mr. Davis never forgot the proverb,
*Cas gwr na charo y wlad a'i maco/ and always brought some
Welsh sermons 1 1 with him when he visited Wales."

David Williams, Iwan (1795—1823). Only son of his father;
born at Penbontbren, Lampeter; educated first at Castell Hywel,
where he was a favourite with David Davis ; proceeded to the
Bristol College, intending to enter the Baptist ministry ; had to
return home owing to weak health. When stronger, became a
schoolmaster at Caermarthen, and then at Swansea. Here he
met Joseph Harries (Gomer) and his son, Ieuan Ddu — the three
becoming true and close friends. Contributed* several articles to

replied D., " I'd like to give you a nudge now and then, to see if you are there." The
late Thomas Hugh Rice Hughes, of Neuadd (d. 1902), was a pupil with my father at Caer-
marthen, and afterwards, till death, one of my late mother's trustees. — G.B.B.

|| He knew how to make one sermon go a long way, and successfully practised the
art, if we may judge by his manuscript of a discourse preserved in the Welsh National
Library, Aberystwyth. He divides it into two parts, and notes on the back the dates on
which he preached one or other of them to his Oldbury congregation, as also the names
of people present at Meeting. Between the ISth June, 1815, when he wrote it, and the
1st January, 1848, it did duty on seventeen different occasions, one of them being a very
wet morning. One hearer in 1839 is novo a wife ; she had been present on several Sundays,
as a girl, when this well thumbed manuscript had been placed on the pulpit desk ! His
letters to his nephew, the Rev. John Jones, Aberdar, are good reading. — G.B.B.

4

THE NEW YORK

PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOH, LENOX AND
TILDEN FOUNDATrONS.

181

Seren Gorner. Through his criticism on " Y Mesurau Caethion,"

especially on Dewi Wyris works, he brought on his head a storm

of disapproval from our best poets. Dewi composed a grumbling

tywydd : —

Isel fwyn ei oslef fo
Swn cry* glas yn crygleisio ;
Nid eos ydyw I wan, —
'Deryn corff i drin can.

He died of consumption, at the early age of twenty-eight years,
in January, 1823, five months before his son and only child, who
died on the 3rd June, and was buried in Llanwenog churchyard,
close to the chancel wall.

John Davies § (1797—1865). A son of Timothy Davies, Ffos
y Ffin, Cellan. A scholar of Davis, Castell Hy wel ; proceeded
to the Presbyterian College, Caermarthen, 1814. Minister at
Capel y Groes, 1818—1824 ; left on a call from Neath, 29th
January, 1825, where also he conducted a successful school.
Thomas Stephens (1821 — 1875), author of the "Literature of
the Kymry," was probably his most eminent pupil. Died the
29th January, 1865.

John Jones (1797 — 1867). Born at Blaenplwyf, Llanfihangel
Ystrad. Removed when very young with his parents to Pen-
shetting, Silian, and worshipped with the Calvinistic Methodists
at Lampeter. Decided to enter the ministry, and went to
Neuaddlwyd Academy. In 1825 he married Miss Jenkins, of
the Priory, Lampeter, where he resided for the rest of his life.
He was ordained at Cardigan in 1833. From the beginning of
his ministry he was a preacher who showed much promise.
From time to time his services were called upon for the
"Cyrddau Mawr" throughout South and North Wales. He

— _ .. !■

| His correspondence with the Rev. John Jones, Aberdar, shows that he kept up a
lively interest in Cardiganshire affairs. Several of these letters have, by the kind
offices of his son, the Rev. Rees Jenkin Jones, M.A., recently passed through my hands.
Writing on the 27th Feb., 1831, he says: — / was quite surprised at the account you gave of
the mania for emigration tliat prevails in Cardiganshire. Viewing the thing in all its bearings
J do not consider it likely that the hopes of the Cardiganshire farmers will be realized by their
leaving sweet home. They will very likely benefit their children by emigrating. They have not
known what it is to part with Relatives, Friends, and Country, and that for ever (I mean in
this world). I think tfiere is a great deal of truth in "Daniel Ddu's" "Qwlad fy If gen-
edigaeth."—Q.'R.E.

182

died on the 23rd November, 1867, having laboured with true
reverence as a gospeller and shepherd in God's flock for fifty
years.

Thomas Jeremy Griffiths, T<m Gimel (1797 — 1871). A
native of Llechryd, son of the Rev. Griffith Griffiths ; educated
at home, and by Davis, Castell Hywel ; entered the Presbyterian
College, 1818. Settled, about 1824, as minister of Ciliau Aeron,
AlltbTaca, and Cribyn. Married, the 22nd May, 1825, at Llan-
egwad Church, Caermarthenshire, to Anne Jeremy, Cribynau,
sister to Thomas Jeremy, Latter Day Saints ; had six children.
In 1841 crossed the Atlantic, whither his wife and family had
preceded him ; travelled in the States, and preached frequently.
"Longing to see little, old Wales," returned in 1845, when first
assumed second name ; supplied the pulpit of Caeronen Chapel,
1847 — 1853 ; succeeded Rev. Peter Joseph at Cribyn, where he
preached from 1858 till a few years before his death, on the 19th
January, 1871. Buried at Alltblaca, in front of the chapel ; his
tombstone bears these lines by his old friend, Dem Hefin (living,
1905, at Glaslwyn, Cribyn): —

Hedd garwr oedd y gwron, — a didwyll
Nodedig ei galon ;
Gamoyd ei yn jzenad Ion,
A'i ddawn oedd wledd i ddynion.

His chief gift to the literary world was the biography (1828) of
his old master, "Cofiant David Davis, Castell Hywel." In 1830,
published a selection of hymns, amongst them twenty-nine of
his own composition. In 1839, started a little magazine "Yr
Hanesydd : Llawer mewn Ychydig," &c, which, however, got
no further than the first number ; — see copy, formerly owned by
Rees Jones (Amnon) and now in the Cardiff Library. His eldest
son, Thomas, M.D., who, during the civil war in U.S.A., joined
Sherman in his wonderful march, was physician to the U.S.
Marine Hospital, Louisville, 1869-77; died 1884, leaving a son,
W. Mandeville Griffiths, M.D. The second son of Tan Gimel,
David, also qualified M.D. Tau Gimel was a curious character.
More than once he borrowed from neighbours the amount of
money necessary to take him to the States, yet got no further
than Liverpool, whence he returned penniless, only to start

183

again after another borrowing ; at last, as we see, he set foot in
America. In 1846, he is described as M.A. of Philadelphia !*

William Saunders (1806—1851). Of the same family as
David Saunders, and spent a lot of his boyhood at Undergrove ;
born at Gwarcwm, Llanllwni, 17th January, 1806 ; educated at
Castell Hywel and Caermarthen Grammar School ; and, when
eleven years of age, was apprenticed with Samuel Williams,
printer, Aberystwyth. Soon after this, his name spread as a
poet of repute; won a silver medal (given by Archdeacon
Beynon) for an awdl on "Spring." From this time on, captured
prizes in the chief eisteddfodau of. South and North Wales.
Once, he took half the monev from the redoubtable Daniel Ddu
for an ode on " Winter "; and his translation of " The Deserted
Village " is considered a masterpiece. These years, Aberystwyth
Cymreigyddion were in a flourishing state ; was one of its fore-
most members. " Lleuad yr Oes : sef Amgueddfa Fisol mewn
Crefydd, Moes, Athroniaeth, a Hanes," was started by A. J.
Williams, and W. Saunders enriched its pages monthly in prose
and verse. When the Rev. David Owen (Brutus) was made
editor in 1828, the two became staunch friends. This friendship,
however, was the means of the downfall of this young literary
genius ; was drawn to the net of drunkenness. Ivon used to tell
a story about Brutus and Saunders. One night, while Isaac
Jones, Sam Thomas, John Jones, and Saunders, were sending
Brutus home, the five turned in to the old inn, close to Llan-
badarn Church gate, then kept by Nansi Killin. Saunders
formed a senate of those present, and conferred, with much
pomp and ceremony, on Bi'uius the degree of LL.D. On the
title-page of the next Lleuad yr Oes we read, " Golygiedig gan y
Parch. D. Owen (Brutus), LL.D." Degrees of the kind were
strange that time, and great was the guessing and inquiring
among the readers about its meaning. Some days after, one
ventured to ask Saunders. He answered, as serious as a saint,
" Llyncwr Diod " i.e., " Beer Swallower." Lleuad yr Oes changed
hands for Llandovery, and Brutus and Saunders removed from
Aberystwyth. Saunders was made sub-editor of Y Cylckgraum,
under the Rev. John Black well (Alum,), and wrote articles to

* Cf. Seren Qomer, 1846, pp. 191, 221.

184

Yr Efengylydd y Yr Haul, &c, in the last of which appeared his
fine translations from Horace and Homer. On the death of
Professor Rice Rees, his master fixed on him as the right man to
finish an edition of " Canwyll y Cymry." This real genius — one
of the greatest ever born on Teify's banks — died from cramp
while bathing in the Towy, on the 30th June, 1851, and was
interred at Llandingad churchyard. His tombstone stands be-
tween the road and the church, and on it may be seen the
following stanza, from the pen of his fellow printer and poet,
William Thomas (Gwilym Mai) : —

Yn ei fedd yma 'n fyddar, — y gorphwys
Argraphydd celfyddgar ;
Gftr o ddawn, cyflawn fel car, —
Y bardd da, dan bridd daear.

Reuben Davies, Reuben Brydydd y Coed (1808— 1833). Eldest
son of David and Elizabeth Davies, Tanyrallt, Cribyn Clottas ;
educated at Ystrad, and by the Rev. T. J. Griffiths (Tau Gimel).
When very young, turned into Welsh passages from Greek
authors, especially "Ovid." His copy of "Ovid" is now in
possession of Mr. D. Thomas (Dewi Hefin), who wrote a valuable
biography of him in Yr Ymofynydd, April, 1895. His father
intended Reuben to be a minister with the Unitarians, but the
son was forced to give up the idea through ill-health. Spent
some time as schoolmaster at Cribyn and Cilmaenllwyd, Caer-
marthenshire. Reuben was a bard of a rare type, and an hymn-
ologist of a very high degree. Daniel Ldu, a fellow poet and
friend of Reuben, once said that he was his master as a composer
of hymns. He wrote about fifty-one hymns in all ; many of
them may be seen in " Pearls of rraise," and in old numbers of
Yr Ymofynydd. The Rev. R. J. Jones, M A., Aberdar, purchased
a manuscript copy-book of his hymns, and " Dydd Barn," from a
relative of Reuben. In early years of Seren Gomer, we meet with
his name frequently. Died from dropsy 8th January, 1833, and
is buried at Dihewyd churchyard,! his funeral sermon being
preached by Tau Gimel from Judges v. 15. No one to-day for
certain can show the resting-place of the promising bard. On

t On Thursday, the 10th September, 1903. the writer and his friend, G.E.E., walked to
Dihewyd, and in a furious gale of wind and rain stood somewhere near Reuben's grave.
The next day they walked across Cardiganshire, part of it over the northern end of Cora
Caron, where once they were well nigh sinking. — B.M.

185

his death memorial stanzas were written by Daniel Ddu, Amnon,
and Dewi Hefin, whose lines are : —

Mae ei wych feddylddrychau, — yn arwydd
O'i orwyoh feddyliau ;
Ao am ei ddinam ddoniau,
'E gaitf ef ei hir gofiau.

A photo of Tanyrallt, with a topographical sketch of the neigh-
bourhood, appeared in Cymru, November, 1902. One of Reuben's
books is in the writer's library, with his autograph, written
in clear handwriting on the cover, Reuben Dairies, Ejus Liber,
Domini, Jany. 15, 1882,

Timothy 1)avies (1815 — 1&69). Born in the district of Lam-
peter. Spent most of his life at Merthyr Tydfil. A prominent
member of the Unitarian congregation at Twynyrodyn. Con-
tributed many readable pieces of poetry to the early numbers of
Yr Ymofynydd, and was also the author of a small book of songs
entitled " Hedyn Mwstard, sef ychydig o Fyfyrdodau Prydydd-
awl gan Timothy Da vies (T. ap Eke Dewi o JFnen)," twelve
pages ; printed by T. Price, High Street, Merthyr, 1835. He
died on the 30th March, 1869, at Merthyr, and lies buried at
Cefncoedcymer Chapel.

Edward Williams, Mo Bach Glan Teifi (1818—1891). Born
at Gelligron, near Llwynrhydowen. Early in life is found at
Cellan, working from house to house as a cooper. Here he
married Miss Sarah Evans, Caerau, and went to live in a little
thatched cottage known as Glanffrwd, on the site of which now
stands the farmyard of Maesgwilyra. Some years later he
removed to Lampeter, to a house situated in Spring Gardens,
at the back of the "White Hart Inn." Before his death, he and
his wife had made their home with his son, Mr. Hefin Williams ;
and here, in Bridge Street, he passed through the gate of
eternity on the 24th February, 1891, his widow following him in
March, 1896. From his boyhood he had played with the muse,
inheriting the awen from his mother, who was a natural rhymer,
although unable to write a word. From his thirty-sixth year he
was an invalid ; and from that period to his passing his chief
delight was the harmonic company of Ceridwen. The pseudonym

24

186

of Ido Bach Glan Teifi is frequently seen in old volumes of Seren
Gomer and Yr Ymofynydd. Two of his ballads are in the writer's
collection : — " Can Newydd o Glod i Llanbedr-Pont-Stephan "
(eighteen verses of four lines each); "Can Newydd o Glod i
Glafdy (Infirmary) Caerfyrddin, yr hon a gyfansoddwyd gan y
Gwerthwr ei hun pan yno o dan y Physican enwog, D. R. Lewis,
Yswain" (twelve verses). One of his hymns, "Dydd yr Iach-
awdwriaeth" ("Salvation Day"), was included by the Rev. Rees
J. Jones, M.A., in "Emynau Mawl "; it being first printed in
Yr Ymofynydd for September, 1875, with his lines on "Ieu-
enctyd" ("Youth"). He was a good musician, and composed
several anthems. His manuscripts, mostly unpublished, are in
the possession of Mr. Hetin Williams.

David Davies, Dafydd y G6f\ (1822—1891). A locai anti-
quary of the old, self-taught, Welsh type ; received no coaching
in any school; learnt to read by noticing sale bills and posters on
the roadsides; and had to fight his way in the world early in life.
He became familiar with the works of some noted Welsh bards,
especially Lewis Glyn Cothi, and Vicar Pritchard, Llandovery;
and perhaps it was by reading the former's genealogical cywyddau
and awdlau that the historical flame began to burn in his heart.

X Dafydd was one of my boyish heroes, and probably did more than anyone in these
parts to encourage my researches into local antiquities. I can never forget Friday,
the 18th September, 1885 ; it was a memorable day spent at Pencarreg with the old man.
He took me to the church; and in turns, rowed my father, brother, and self in his
coracle on the lake. Father was no light weight, and was somewhat perturbed when, in
the deepest part of the lake, Dafydd effectively recited the lines—

Haen o bitch a haen o Danced
Sydd rhwng Dai 'r Crai a thrag'wyddoldeb.

Returning to his home, all the treasures of his museum were exhibited and explained.
There were the fragments of an urn, broken by some workmen, when opening what
proved to be a British burial mound in the parish. Dafydd had carefully picked up all
tiie pieces, as well as bits of the incinerated bones which were in the urn. The piece he
then gave me, with two morsels of bone, has the well-known "thumb-marked" pattern
on it. Next came the wooden sole of the great clog which he found in a bog close to Sarn
Helen, and surmised it to have been thrown or dropped there by a passing Roman soldier.
The leather of the upper part was attached to the sole by means of sharp wooden pegs,
two of which are yet in their places. This he likewise gave me. Of the coins he had un-
earthed in Pencarreg parish he was justly proud. His well-preserved specimens of the
silver sixpence of Edward VI., and the 1578 shilling of Elizabeth, must needs accompany
the urn sherd and clog, so generous was Dafydd. China, carved oak, cannon balls from
Aberpergwm, querns, and much else, were there. Then he read us some verses from his
Irish New Testament, and finally came tea. His wife was absent, and Dafydd set before
us a royal meal of bread, butter, and honey. In the midst of the feast the wife appeared.
Instantly Shan whipped the butter off the table, ejaculating, " Dim 'menyn a mel " (" No
butter with honey ). The look on Dafydd's face was pitiable ! The headstone over his
grave was placed there by means of a very few subscriptions collected by my father, who
delivered the short address at his old friend's burying. — Q.E.E.

" Dafydd y Gof."

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During his lifetime he put his hand on many antiquarian pearls,

and became the possessor of innumerable relics and curiosities — '■

pieces of early urns which he came across when digging a mound

in the neighbourhood of Pencarreg, bullets of Cromwell's time,

British querns or corn-grinding stones, Roman shoes, old china,

Elizabethan coins, &c. Popular also as a clever blacksmith,

he could turn his hand with great skill to almost everything

relating to his trade — mending cutting and threshing machines,

and gtxns ; and he was without an equal in sharpening scythes,

sickles, and various other tools of this kind. He built a coracle

for his own use in crossing the Teify on Sundays to Alltblaca

Chapel, to save his going round over Llanybyther Bridge. The

end came suddenly whilst sitting on the settle, reading by the

fireside, about ten o'clock in the evening of the 29th July, 1891.

His great enemy of asthma carried him off. He was interred

the following Wednesday in Pencarreg churchyard, in a spot at

the end of his garden, and not far from the. resting-place of

Daniel Ddu o Geredigion. A memoir of him, from the pen of his

life-long friend, Professor Evans, appeared in Yr Yrnofynydd,

1891.

Daniel Lewis Moses (1822—1893). Born at Cwmpib,
Cribyn Clottas, 1st May, 1822 ; of the same family as David
Davis, Castell Hy tfel. When eleven years of age, his father went
to resident Blaenbidernyn, Pencarreg. Some five years after,
opened a school on his own account in Pencarreg. One of his
old students at this place died in 1903, the Rev. Prebendary Evan
Jones, Newport, Pern., author of "John Jones yn yr Ysgol," "Ad-
gofion Deugain Mlynedd o'm Gweinidogaetb," &c. In company
with David Davies, smith, and a man from Lampeter, began to
write a series of character sketches in Yr Haul. Kept a school
afterwards at Rhydcymmerau ; from there went to Brynamman ;
and from there again to Cwmtwrch, but removed to the second
place as a clerk in the ironworks. He held this position with
respect till his death, 1st September, 1893. Was considered an
advanced and refined writer ; translated gems of English poetry
to Welsh, in fluent language and style ; to early numbers of Yr
Yrnofynydd he contributed interesting articles on botany, as well
as others in prose and verse. At Lampeter Eisteddfod, 1859, was
second to John Jones (Cunllo) for an " Awdl Goffadwriaethol i

188

Daniel Ddu" his work being highly praised by Eben Fardd. Here
is an extract from the adjudication: — " 'Ceredig.'— Ymae ei awdl
ef yn un ganmoladwy, yn cynwys desgrifiadau pur deg a chyflawn
o'r gwrthddrych, yn ei reddfau a'i athrylith ; ceir ynddi gyfeir-
iadau tlysion at ei ogwyddiadau Uenyddol a'i flodeuad bardd-
onol — at ei gy feillion, a rhagoriaethau ei gy nyrchion awdurol ;
ac y mae yr awdl wedi ei haddurno yn brydferth yma ac acw 4
cheinion cerdd." This awdl has appeared in many Welsh per-
iodicals — Yr Ymofynydd, Cymru, &c. One of his sons is Mr. T.
M. Evans, M.A., late headmaster of St. David's College School,
Lampeter.

David Evans (1825—1858). Born at Lampeter, and brought
up as a printer. Had a business of his own in Harford Square.
Published many pamphlets and ballads. He was also the pub-
lisher of the excellent engraving of Dean Lewellin. By persua-
sion a Wesleyan Methodist, he used occasionally to preach in
that connexion. As a debater, he is remembered for his contro-
versy || with the Rev. John Jones, Unitarian minister of Hen Dy
Cwrdd, Aberd&r, on "Duw a'i Ddibenion yn ol Ei Air." He
wrote on various subjects to Seren Gamer ; Yr Eurgrawn Wesley-
aidd, Yr Haul, &c. The late Chancellor D. Silvan Evans had a
high opinion of his merits, and frequently corresponded with
him. In one of his letters the Chancellor advises him to be a
clergyman, but this was not to be, for consumption claimed him,
and he died on the 23rd March, 1858. His widow survived him
till 1903. His son is Mr. D. R. Evans, who carries on the same
business as his father at Lampeter.

William Jenkins, Gmlym Gwenog (1825—1878). Born at
Glynmeherin ; son of David and Eleanor Jenkins ; educated at
Llandyssul, by Rev. John Thomas ; soon came to the front as a
promising scholar, and his master wanted him to prepare for the
ministry. Had to return home owing to his delicate state of
health, and compelled to stay here for months. Recovered a
little, went to Pantydefaid school, under the Rev. Thomas
Thomas, J.P. About 1851, opened a business in Cwrtnewydd ;
and two years later, took license as an auctioneer. Married

|| Yr Ymofynydd, October, 1849—1850.

189

Rachel Anne Da vies, Maesygaer, Llanybyther, 26th June, 1855.
From- his boyhood he showed a great deal of zeal for literature
and poetry ; as he grew older, went to the heights of Parnassus
often ; could compose in " y Mesurau Caethion " in English as
well as in Welsh ; his poetical pieces may be seen constantly in
Yr Ymofynydd ; was third to D. L. Moses for "Awdl Goffadwr-
iaethol i Daniel Ddu" in Lampeter Eisteddfod, 1859, under the
pseudonym of "Emrys." I quote again the words of Eben
Fardd: — " ' Emrys. J — Awdl fechan dda iawn, hynod o gryno, a
thlws yn ei chyfansoddiad ; nid oes genym ddim yn ei herbyn
ond ei bvrdra." As far as we know the last work of his muse
was " Edifeirwch Gwely Angau ": —

Mi waeddaf yn awr Maddau,— nid oedi
A didach mewn beiau ;
Rhy hwyr fydd edifarhau, — y funyd
Y b'o ni 'n sengyd ar ben nos angau.

Died at Ffosyffald 14th July, 1878, and buried at Capel y Groes,
when the Revs. J. Davies and T. Thomas officiated. His friend,
Dewi Hefin, composed twelve pathetic stanzas to his memory
(see " Blodau Hefin," p. 40).

David Milton Davies (1827 — 1869). Born at Hen Feddau,
Lampeter, November, 1827 ; apprenticed to a draper, but had in
his heart a higher aim for the future. Educated at Hanover
School and Brecon College. When his college days were over,
was ordained, and had a call from the Independent chapels of
Wern and Penycae, Cardiganshire, where he worked as an
earnest minister for five years, when he left for Llanfyllin,
Montgomeryshire. Wrote some splendid articles to the Welsh
periodicals, and was one of the editors of Y Dysgedydd ; was
appointed the head of the Disestablishment Society in North
Wales, travelled and lectured on its behalf, and formed branches
in the chief towns. Without doubt, having overworked himself,
the strain began to tell on his health ; was forced to have a rest
in Spain, but the journey turned out fruitless. Died from con-
sumption, 7th June, 1869.

William Edmunds (1827 — 1875). A native of Lampeter.
Educated first at Lampeter Grammar School, under the Rev.

190

Hugh Felix. In his nineteenth year entered St. David's College,
where he soon came to the front as one of its brightest students,
winning prize after prize; and at the end of his college
career attained to the highest possible distinction. In a Welsh
magazine for 1848 we read : — "Rhoddwyd Tyst-ysgrifau yr Ym-
holwyr (tebyg i Raddau y Prif-ysgolion) i'r myfyrwyr canlynol ;
y rhai a raddolwyd yn ol mesur eu hysgolheigdod, yn y drefn
hon : — Dosbarth I., William Edmunds, Prif Ysgolor (Senior
Scholar) — Gwobr mewn Hebraeg a Duwinyddiaeth."

Elected vice-principal of the Training College, Caermarthen,§
he filled the responsible post with success and respect for many
years, Canon Reed being a keen admirer of him till his death.
During this period he was ordained by Bishop Thirlwall, and
awarded the " Bishop's Prize," then given to the most successful
candidate.

The headmastership of liampeter Grammar School becoming
vacant, he was appointed as the right man to reign at this noted
academy, where he was first trained to climb the ladder of fame
as a scholar. Under his able hands the institution once again
began to flourish, and his fame as a master extended throughout
the Principality, boys from all its counties being placed under
his care. At one time more than half of St. David's College
students were his "old boys" — several of them winning high
distinction at Oxford and Cambridge.

In 1863 he was collated to the living of Rhostie, co. Caer-
marthen, }>\it was a non-resident vicar, being allowed to keep a
curate in charge, so that he might continue his scholastic work
at Lampeter. He invariably spent his holidays in the parish,
and through his exertions many improvements were accom-
plished. He restored the vicarage, and built a school-house in
a convenient spot.

As a Welsh writer and scholar, he may be placed in the first

I Amongst the manuscripts belonging to the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth,
is an interesting letter from William Edmunds to R. O. Rees, dated from Training College,
Caermarthen, Nov. 5th, 1850, in which he says : — / am sorry that I am not able to satisfy your
inquiries respecting "leuan Brydydd Hir" and "Dafydd lonawr." I have not been able to
find out any trace of the School said to have been kept by our Bard at Caermarthen ; I have
inquired of that great authority, the "oldest inhabitant," but to no purpose. I have however
something to communicate to you which perhaps may be of some use to you. 1 was told the other
day by a clergyman in this neighbourhood that he had some faint recollection of having heard
from the late Archdeacon Beynan that Mr. Richards was himself in school at Caermarthen, and
that the Revd. David Lewis, V. ofCynwyl, Caermarthenshire, and Rector of Garthbeibio in Mont-
gomeryshire, who died about three months ago, at the age of 90, was one of his schoolfellows. I
give you the above as it was communicated to me, knowing nothing about the matter myself.

191

rank. In 1856 he published a pamphlet of twenty-four pages —
now rare — bearing for its title page, " Gwers-lyfr Llanbedr : yn
cynwys Gwersi Hawdd i ddysgu sillebu a darllen Cymraeg, at
hyn y chwanegwyd Holwyddoreg Gynwysfawr o Brif Wirion-
eddau ac enwau Dynion y Bibl, &c, <fcc." The same year he
edited the second edition of " Y Ffydd Ddiffuant " (C. Edwards),
and wrote the able explanatory notes which accompany it. For
Spurrell's edition of "Drych y Prif Oesoedd" (1854), it was his
pen which wrote, in flowery and racy words — in style not
unequal to that of Theophilus Evans himself — the lengthy and
scholarly introduction.

But perhaps his chief literary gift to the public was his accu-
rate paper "On Some Old Families in the Neighbourhood of
Lampeter," which he read before the thirteenth annual meeting
of the Cambrian Archaeological Association at Cardigan in 1859.
It was subsequently issued as a separate publication of forty-five
pages, with two heraldic blocks, and a tiny sketch of Peterwell
ruins.

It is said he had in preparation a history of Lampeter, but,
although reported to have been seen on his desk at the time of
his death, there is now no trace of any such manuscript.

He passed to the Nearer Presence on the 21st January, 1875,
his body being buried near the porch of the parish church. His
tombstone reads: — "Er C6f am | William Edmunds, | yr hwn
a fu yn Berson | Plwyf Rhostie am 12 mlynedd, | Ac yn Ben-
Athraw Yseol | Ramadegol, Llanbedr | Am 20 mlynedd. | Bu
farw, Chwefror 21, 1875, | yn 48 mlwydd oed."

THE HOUSE OF PETERWELL

AN OLD TIAE STORY.

Its $ise.

Tie a sight to engage me, if anything can,
To muse on the perishing pleasures of man ;
Though his life be a dream, his enjoyments, I see,
Have a being less durable even than he. — Cowper.

Peterwell is on the left side of the road leading from Lam-
peter to Llanwnen, being about half-a-mile from the former
place. The mansion stood back from the road some three
hundred yards, in one of the most charming and picturesque
spots in the fair vale of Teify. The ruin of the once magnificent
mansion may be seen to-day — hoary with age and hallowed by
traditions. The stately grove of noble trees remains, a -living
witness of the greatness and grandeur of the past ; but the
mansion that was once the home of '.'all that beauty, all tljat
wealth e'er gave," is now in ruins, and the relentless hand of
Time has written " Ichabod " on every pillar and on every stone.
These yet stand in their dignity, an abiding memento of the
truth of the immortal Elegy that " the paths of glory lead but
to the grave." Tradition links this spot with the Holy Land,
for it is said that Archbishop Baldwin, once upon a time, so-
journed here, and preached the Crusade to the impulsive Celts,
whose warm hearts gave a ready response to the Primate's
appeal. Many a royal army camped in these lovely meadows
in days gone by, and " Dol y Brenin " (the King's Mead) is still
pointed out to the stranger by the local antiquary. What dark
deeds of crime and hatred were enacted within this ancient pile,
and what tales of sin and sorrow and retribution do they recall ?
We have diligently searched the records of the past, and we

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purpose unfolding the story as best we may. The many tales
about Sir Herbert Lloyd, of Peterwell, have long ago passed
into the safe keeping of folk-lore, but we believe we shall be
able to place before our readers much that is new and reliable.
The tragic death of Shon Philip at the hands of his oppressor
is common knowledge ; but that of the awful death of the per-
secuting baronet in a dark and infamous London den is not
so equally well known.

For the present purpose we will begin our story with David
Evans, Esquire, of Llechwedd.Deri, in the parish of Llanwnen,
who served the office of high sheriff of Cardiganshire in 1641.
His descendants soon became the most influential — as they prob-
ably were the most desperate — in the county. David Evans pur-
chased the Peterwell estate, and built the first house there. He
was the son of Ieuan Goch of Dolau Gwyrddon, and took to wife
Mary, daughter of John Lloyd Jenkin, of Blaenhiroth, parish of
Llangennech, co. Caermarthen, having issue four sons, Thomas,
John, Rees, Erasmus, and two daughters, Eleanor and Sarah.

In due course Thomas succeeded his father as master of Peter-
well, and took a very active part in the politics of the troubled
times in which he lived. He espoused the Parliamentary cause,
whilst the family of Maesyfelin, on the other hand, were zealous
Royalists. He was captain of a troop of cavalry, under the
Committee of Safety, and is described as being passionately
violent in all his actions — ".first a Covenanter, then an eager
advocate for the negative oath, afterwards most impetuous
against a single person, especially the family of his Majestie, and
endeavoured to incite men to take arms against General Monk.
He was impatient without an office, and tyrannical in one."

Tradition has it that Thomas Evans and his son were em-
ployed by Cromwell as agents in Cardiganshire and some other
parts of Wales, and that whilst so engaged they took advantage
of their position and amassed considerable wealth. Thomas
Evans married Elizabeth, the daughter of Ieuan Gwyn Fychan,
of Moelifor, in the county of Cardigan; and in the year 1653
served the office of high sheriff of his county.

David Evans, the son of Thomas — who, like his father, took
a prominent part in the Rebellion — was captain of a company of
infantry, under the Committee of Safety. His wife was Jane,
daughter of William Herbert, Esquire, of Hafod Ychtryd. He
probably died before his father.

25

194

Daniel, brother of David Evans, married Mary, daughter of
Morgan Herbert, Esquire, of Hafod, their issue being six
daughters — Lsetitia, Mary, Jane, Elizabeth, Rebecca, and Sarah.
He was the last Evans of Peterwell in the male line, and died in
1696 at the age of forty-nine years. He rebuilt his grandfather's
house at Peterwell, which, it is said, he had but completed before
his death. He was high sheriff for Cardiganshire in 1691.

Elizabeth, daughter of Daniel Evans, married Walter Lloyd,
of Llanfairclydogau, thus uniting the lineage of Cadifor ap
Dinawal to that of Gwaethfoed, and a new family occupied
Peterwell, which to all appearances bid fair to become one of the
most powerful and influential houses in the principality. Its
reign, however, was but short, and the dominion was soon taken
from the family.

Walter Lloyd, after his marriage (probably in 1713) with
Elizabeth Evans, left Llanfairclydogau for Peterwell, which
estate, with that of Llechwedd Deri, had already fallen to Mrs.
Lloyd as co-heiress. He had been brought up as a lawyer.
From 1734 to 1741, he represented the county of Cardigan in
Parliament, in which latter year he was re-elected to serve in
the second Parliament of King George II. ; but, owing to
some flaw in the election, his place as member was taken by
Thomas Powell, Esquire, of Nanteos.

Walter and Elizabeth Lloyd had nine children — Mary (b. 1714,
d. 1720); Daniel and Walter (both died young); John, born
about 1718, and to whom further reference will be made ; Anne
(b. 1719, d. 1746), who became the wife of Sir Lucius Christianus
Lloyd, Bart., of Maesyfelin ; Herbert (b. 1720), to be again
alluded to; Elizabeth (b. 1721), afterwards the wife of John
Adams, of Whitland, Caermarthen shire ; Alice (b. 1724), married
Jeremiah Lloyd, of Mabws; and Thomas (b. 1725), who died
young. Walter Lloyd was buried at Lampeter on the 22nd
February, 1747, his wife having predeceased him in 1743.

Fools and knaves,
Safe from the bar, the pulpit, and the throno,
Are touch'd and shamed by ridicule alone.

Walter Lloyd was succeeded in his estate by his eldest sur-
viving son, John Lloyd, who was also member of Parliament for
the county of Cardigan from the year 1747 to his death, which
took place in 1755. These were years in our Parliament when

Walter Lloyd.

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the genius of the great William Pitt was called to the front,
through the miserable incapacity of the Duke of Newcastle ; and
had John Lloyd lived but a few months longer, he would have
seen Pitt become Secretary of State for the sixteen weeks in
which he held the office, ere the enmity of the King and of New-
castle's party drove him to resign, only, however, to be recalled
in a short while. Was it not in this connection that Horace
Walpole wrote, "Mr. Pitt does everything, and the Duke gives
everything " ? It has been truly said that the Duke of New-
castle's skill in parliamentary management was unrivalled. If
he knew little else, he knew better than any living man the price
of every member, and the intrigues of every borough, and to
these prices and these intrigues John Lloyd was no stranger.
In 1750 John Lloyd took unto himself a wife, in the person
of Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Isaac Le Hoop, and with her also
he took the modest sum of £80,000, which she brought him as
her marriage dowry. Nor was a wife .'"jwitij : ileT £80,000 in good
securities all that fell to Jojhp Lloyd's, share in: this memorable
year; for, under the wilt of hi : s brother-in-law, Sir Lucius
Christian us Lloyd, he became possessed of the gijeat Maesyfelin
estate. Five years only had he as master.,^ all, fere death came
to claim him, and, childless, he died of th«j "netves," and was
buried at Lampeter on the 29th June, 1~755. ' His widow married
again one George Montgomery, but left no issue. A portion of
her fortune haa been laid out in mortgages on farms in the near
neighbourhood of Lampeter. These she bequeathed to a sister's
daughter, who married Sir Edward Williams, of Llangoed Castle,
co. Brecon, and their daughter in time married Thomas Wood,
of Littleton, co. Middlesex.

Rumour, never to be lightly set aside, freely circulated the
report that King George II., whose mind was smaller than that
of any English king before him, saving always James II., in-
tended to add to the dignity of the gilded chamber by elevating
John Lloyd to the House of Lords, with the title of Lord Bryn-
hy wel (the name of the old residence of the Lloyds of Lampeter),
but what the King willed death nilled. His wife was a maid of
honour at court.

John Lloyd dying without issue, his brother Herbert suc-
ceeded to his estates, consisting of Peterwell, Maesyfelin, Llech-
wedd Deri, and Foelallt, which latter demesne his father had
previously given him, and where he had resided for some time.

196

Herbert Lloyd was twice married, his first wife being a Miss
Bragge, an English lady, who was buried, a few days after her
infant daughter, in Lampeter on the 3rd March, 1743. His
second wife was a well-known local beauty, Anne, daughter of
William Powell, Esquire, of Nanteos, and widow of Richard
Stedman, Esquire, of Strata Florida.

Would you know the virtues of fair Lady Anne ? Then read
the inscription on the marble tablet to her memory, close by the
holy table in the Abbey Church at Strata Florida. Here we
find that her mother's name was Averina, and that, by her mar-
riage with Richard Stedman, she had two daughters, who died
young, and that she was buried here. Her humanity and bene-
volence were general and conspicuous, her charity was apparent
in the heartfelt lamentations of the poor and needy.

George III. mounted the throne in 1760, and just three years
afterwards the Cardigan borough saw fit to present him with an
address congratulating him on his accession. This loyal effusion
was in due course presented to his Majesty by Herbert Lloyd,
who, "for the service rendered," was created a baronet on the
26th January, 1763, and was henceforth to be known by all and
sundry as Sir Herbert Lloyd, Bart., of Peterwell.

This kissing of the royal finger tip and elevation to a baronetcy
was too good an opportunity to be lost by a local wit and poet-
aster, who soon appeared on the scenes in the person of the Rev.
David Lloyd, minister of Llwynrhydowen Chapel, close to Allt-
yrodyn, a man of interests entirely opposite to those of the
baronet. We can well imagine the thunderbolt which fell when
the following lines appeared one morning with the hot rolls on
the breakfast table ,at Peterwell : —

A would-be member brought of late,

From borough little known,
In an address of early date,

His incense to the throne.

Soon tidings came where Tivy flows,

Through tyrant- harassed land,
That Lloyd to envied honours rose

And kiss'd the royal hand.

had our gracious Sovereign's touch

But cur'a him of his evil,
I'd own St. George ne'er boasted such

A triumph o'er the devil.

Sir Herbert Lloyd, Bart.

THE NEW YORK

PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOH, LENOX AND
TILDEN FOUNDATIONS.

197

But the thunderbolt soon expended itself, and Sir Herbert
joined with the common throng in admiring the pungency of the
lines.

[Meyrick, in his " Cardiganshire," p. 209, attributes these
lines to " the Rev. Mr. Lloyd, of Alltyrodyn, a clergyman,"
&c. Since this story originally appeared in 1900, and in
which I followed Meyrick, I have had reason to doubt his
accuracy, and now feel certain they were composed by
the Rev. David Lloyd, the Arian minister of Llwynrhyd-
owen Chapel, close to Alltyrodyn. Why ? Because in
the copy of Meyrick's " Cardiganshire," owned by the late
Rev. David Lloyd, LL.D., principal of the Presbyterian
College, Caermarthen, and now in the possession of his only
surviving child, Mrs. Theakstone, of Glanymdr, Waterloo,
we get these notes, amongst others, in Dr. Lloyd's hand-
writing:— P. 209, line 16, "Alltyrodin" and "Rev. Mr.
Lloyd deleted, and Coedlannau arid Rev. D. Lloyd, Llwyn-
rhydowen, and my grandfather. D. Lloyd? 9 written in margin
over against them. In the letters by David Lloyd the
grandfather to his step-brother, the Rev. Posthumus Lloyd,
of Thame and Coventry, and known as the " Brynllefrith "
letters, from the name of his farm at Cwrt Newydd where
written, 1754 — 1768, and of which the originals are before
me, he says, under date of the 17th June, 1768: — Our
Members are Lord Lisburne and Mr. Price Campbell, who were
chosen withot. opposition. Sir Herbert intended to stand for ye
county, but a general meeting last autumn declaring in favour of
Lord Lisburne, lie was obliged to decline it, but at ye same time
declared himself a candidate for ye Town [Cardigan]. In order
to which he endeavoured to get a friend of his (Ben Davies of
Glancilch, whose daughter Sally you have kiss'd formerly) to be
chosen mayor. But Lewes ye bookseller of Carmarthen [John
Lewes was mayor of Cardigan, 1767-8] being elected by a great
majority, Sir Herbert notwithstanding got his own Mayor sworn
in, so that for some time ye Town was doubly officered. This
caus'd a King's Bench suit, which was determined at Hereford
in favour of Lewes. Mr. Campbell had some time before de-
clared and supported by Mr. Pryce of Gogerthan, and a great
Majority of ye county Gentlemen. Sir H. however determined
to stand a poll, and order'd down his Lampeter Burgesses, who
amounted to upwards of 2000 [sic]. But Ben Davies meeting

198

him on ye Road and refusing to act as returning officer, ye Bart

himself being apprehensive of Writs to take him, he return d home,

and left his men to shift for themselves, so that his antagonist had

ye field entirely to himself.

On the birth of. his son Charles on the 29th May, 1767,

afterwards well known in Lampeter as " Quantity Doctor,"

(see "Cardiganshire: Its Antiquities," 1903, pp. 148 — 165),

David Lloyd begins a letter to Posthumus with these

lines : —

The blessed twenty-ninth of May,
The happy Restoration Day
Of our late wh. . . . r Sovereign Charles —
Pray don't I rhyme as well as Quarles ? —
Hail best of Days I nor does my Muse
(Good natur'd Qirl) her aid refuse.
But like a Broomstick-riding Witch
Transports me up to Bunyarfs Pitch.
Would you, dear Pos, expect to find her
To you than to your Brother kinder
To put your Soul and Lyre in Tune ?
Invoke on her ye tenth of June.

I mean sit down to answer this letter on that day, and who
knows but you may on that glwious anniversary tag still
better Rhymes than these, wch I M not have thought of, had
not ye first couplet run off spontaneously, upon my looking at
ye Clock to see what day of ye month to adorn ye top of my
paper with.]

Sir Herbert Lloyd's name was now paramount in the district ;
his vassals quailed before his look, he gambled, be betted, he got
into debt, and mortgaged his estates almost up to their full
value. He was one of the finest and best-looking men in the
principality. He ruled his servants and his tenants, as well as
those who came before him as a magistrate, with a rod of iron,
and his word was law in this part of the country. The process
of sending a man to Cardigan gaol was exceedingly simple in
the days of which this story tells, and many innocent persons
suffered long periods of incarceration, while some even paid the
extreme penalty of the law, against which they had committed
no offence. He lived at Peterwell in true baronial style and
state, and was looked up to more as a king than a baronet.
Whenever he passed to and from London in the discharge of his
parliamentary and other engagements, his tenants all the way

199

from Lampeter to Llandovery brought relays of horses and oxen
to help forward his lumbering coach and the vehicles of his
retinue and retainers. He inherited a large portion of the
impetuosity of Thomas Evans, the Cromwellite hero of Peter-
well, and when dealing with his creditors — many and pressing —
his whip was frequently brought into requisition. It was any-
thing but pleasant for a bailiff to serve a writ at Peterwell, for,
like a frog devouring his skin, the bearer of "a bit of blue
paper" had invariably to swallow it upon the spot and in the
presence of Sir Herbert, and that, too, with a dispatch quickened
by the uplifted hand and whip.

His married life with Lady Anne was, so far as can be
ascertained, anything but a happy one, and it seems that his
conduct to this gentle, unassuming woman was alike cruel and
disgraceful. She was considerably older than her husband, and
there was not much affection between them. She resided princi-
pally at Foelallt, in the parish of Llanddewi Brefi. At her death
the estate of Strata Florida, by the will of her first husband,
passed into the possession of the Powells of Nanteos.

Its Jtotoer.

The man of wealth and pride
Takes up a space that many poor supplied ;
Space for his lake, his parks extended bounds,
Space for his horses, equipage, and hounds ;
The robe that wraps his limbs in silken sloth
Has robbed the neighbouring fields of half their growth.

The name of Sir Herbert Lloyd and his stately residence at
Peterwell were at one time household words in Lampeter and
the neighbourhood. The cool and sparkling waters of Ffynnon
Bedr (Peter's Well) were famous throughout the land. This
well, still giving forth a stream of pure and living water, is
situated in a meadow a little south of the ruined mansion, and is
well kept and much frequented to-day. On a still, quiet evening,
you may hear the gurgling sound of its brimming water before
it comes to view, and this sound is often the best guidance to it,
for the well is underground, and partly covered by a flight
of well-worn steps leading down to it.

The remains of yet another well can also still be traced within
the precincts of the ruined mansion. This one stands a little off

200"

the main pile, and tradition preserves to posterity the saying
that this well was in one of the large kitchens, often the scene
of much feasting by the numerous retainers and servants who
crowded its flags. To-day the place where the water once flowed
in limpid stream is the home of such water-loving plants as the
meadow sweet, the purple loose strife, the water cress, and the
water hemlock, which invariably follow human footsteps in the
desolate and deserted halls, where once was tuned the harp "a
king had loved to hear."

A noble avenue of stately trees runs at right angles from the
main road to the ruined mansion. Verily and of truth was it a
magnificent approach to a magnificent building — straight, wide,
even, it lives and flourishes to-day, every spring putting forth
fresh beauty, and lovingly clothing "with living green" the
curse-stricken pile of stones, in part brought from the equally
as unfortunate and desolate house of Maesyfelin. Side by side
of the avenue are the moats, now "o'errun with wild wood,
thick'ning green." The thistle and bramble have taken pos-
session of the place, and herds graze in the shade of its cool and
quiet colonnade.

But not always was it so ; oral traditions carefully preserved,
and, strange as it may seem to say so — yet truth compels the
statement — lovingly, if wjth eccentricity, related to all who will
listen by one quaint old time "lady" who still haunts the
vicinity when cuckoos call, and snows do fall — to wit, "Miss
Saunders #ach."* With her stock of local lore, her knowledge
of the potency of herbs and the power of the stars, her weird
comings and goings, she brings to mind the immortal character
of Meg Merrilies. She also, like the poet's Maiden, often sings
of days long past, and laments the decay of ancient glory and
departed splendour ; and her strange musings compel many a
passer by to ask with Wordsworth,

Will no one tell me what she sings ?
Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow
For old, unhappy, far-olf things,
And battles long ago :
Or is it some more humble lay
Familiar matter of to-day ?
Some natural sorrow, loss, or pain,
That has been, and may be again ?

*P. 5.

201

The remains of the ancient avenues of stately trees are to this
day a striking and picturesque feature in the lovely vale of
Teify, as viewed from the surrounding hills. At right angles to
the magnificent approach already mentioned was another, of like
dimensions but of less splendour, which ran along the valley be-
tween the mansion and the river. It was an idyllic spot, and in
spite of the vicissitudes of time its tranquil charm remains to this
day. Right through the centre of the valley " the river glideth
at its own sweet will," and on either side, with a broad and
liberal sweep, the prospect gently rises to meet the sky, which
thus o'er-canopies the whole. Switzerland can boast of lovely
valleys, but they are narrow ; America, too, can boast of fine
valleys, but they are vast. Both have a depressing effect on the
human mind. How insignificant a creature is man in the illimit-
able extent of the one, and how circumscribed his lot in the nar-
rowness of the other ! Give me ever the golden mean such as
the pleasing prospect of the vale of Teify affords. Distant
scenes, however, are not wanting to this homely and fertile
valley ; and the domed towers of the mansion of Peterwell com-
manded views of extensive range and exquisite loveliness.

The full enjoyment of this distant prospect was by no means
neglected in the building of the stately mansion ; for a traveller
touring through Wales in 1801 has placed on record the fact
that at Lampeter there "is nothing particularly worthy of obser-
vation except the large old seat of Sir Herbert Lloyd, which is
built close to the town, and exhibits a very striking appearance
with its four great towers crowned with domes, in the middle of
a well-planted enclosure." The magnificence of the mansion was
beyond description ; its glory was the theme of the poet, and its
grandeur became a proverb. Its noble halls and stately galleries
were adorned by a very large number of beautiful windows.
The steps of the main entrance were made of polished Portland
stone, while the front door and the staircase were made of Welsh
oak, highly polished, and finished in the most perfect manner
imaginable.

[In January, 1765, one John Collins, labourer, of Lam-
peter, was sentenced to a term of imprisonment in Cardigan
gaol for stealing, "with force and arms," the goods and
chattels of Sir Herbert Lloyd, Baronet, Peterwell. The
extent and variety of the list gives us a fair idea of some of
the contents of the mansion : —

26

202

£ h. d.

18 Damask table cloths, value 10 - -

2 Diaper „ „ „ 1 - -

1 Holland sheet ... ... „ - 10 —

3 Hempen sheets ... ... „ - 10 -

3 Diaper napkins ... ... „ - 10 -

1 Pair white ribbed silk stockings „ - 16 -

2 Yellow cloth waistcoats trimmed

with livery lace ... ... „ 3 - -

1 Piece livery lace and shoulder

knotting
8 Printed books

»>

91

- 10 -
2 - -

- 2 -
1 - -

- i -

- i -

- 6 -

- 5 -

i Diaper night cap

3 Pieces green bayes

4 China tea cups
Jf. China dishes

11 China tea saucers

5 China coffee cups
1 Tortoise shell snuffbox with gold

hinges ... ... ... „ 20 -

1 Dark brown cloth coat, trimmed

& lined with yellow shalloon „ 2 10

1 Pair cloth breeches, trimmed &

lined with yellow shalloon.,, „ 1 10

2 Deal boxes ... ... ... „ 1 -

£45 17 -

After a year's confinement, Collins, "through no wilful
neglect of the gaolers," escaped from the gaol, then "in a
very bad repair."!]

In addition to the four towers crowned with domes, the roof
of the mansion was adorned with a flower garden, which was the
wonder and admiration of the whole country. From this lovely
parterre on the top of the house the proud possessor could be-
hold sunsets of extraordinary splendour and beauty, as the great
and fiery orb sank to rest in the tremulous haze which veiled the
woods of Highmead, far as the eye could reach, down the valley.

Seated here one summer evening by a cooling fountain was
Sir Herbert, a monarch of all he surveyed. The whole valley

t Gaol Files, in Record Office.

203

was flooded with the light of the sinking sun. Its rays were
slowly receding along the gentle slopes of the hills above the
town. On a slight eminence to the left stood the ancient church
of St. Peter. The level rays were brilliantly mirrored in the
glass of its windows, and they tarried awhile and played around
the old tower. The light crept down the valley. The level
rays now played among the trees and bid adieu to object after
object; but they were not destined to depart that evening before
bringing to view, in bold relief, a spot very sore to the baron's
eye. This was none other than the humble abode of John
Philip, which stood not far from the banks of a brimming brook
which runs about midway between the mansion and the town.
Philip and his good dame, after toiling;, rejoicing, and sorrowing
from early morn till dewy eve, had at last richly earned a night's
repose. They retired to their humble straw-thatched mud tene-
ment, while the proud baronet was still basking in the sun ; and
Nature, awhile, as if in mercy, threw her curtain over these dis-
parities of human lot, for low in the vale the mist of evening
spread. Philip sighed heavily that night, and his good wife
consoled him by reciting the comminatory verses from the works
of the Old Vicar ; and the haughty baronet retired, and spent
the night very uneasily, for the many schemes of avarice which
he ruminated in his mind would not permit him to sleep, and
he was continually harassed by the thought that much mischief
might be perpetrated under the thick covering of the mist.

Such, then, is the place where Sir Herbert Lloyd held sway
and tyrant power for a few short years, a power the like of
which was surely never seen before. This tyranny of PeterwelFs
baronet was exhibited in a terrible manner in his persecution of
Short Philip. The story of Cae Short Philip was formerly in every
mouth in the neighbourhood, and told round the winter fireside
in many a homestead.

Cae Short Philip is a meadow, or,' more accurately, a field
measuring some eighteen acres in extent, and is still known
by this name. It lies on the bank of the salmon-haunted Teify,
and within three hundred yards of the old mansion. It is now
the property of Mr. J. C. Harford, Falcondale, and forms a part
of Pontfaen Farm. As the field was so near the Peterwell
demesne, it was a source of much annoyance, and a standing
eyesore, to the covetous and jealous-minded Sir Herbert. The
grounds round the mansion were teeming with game and other

204

wild animals, and nothing was easier on the part of Short Philip
than occasionally to entrap some of them, had he so desired;
and this, too, without running the slightest risk of being de-
tected, or even of creating any suspicion among the keepers.
No evidence, however, is forthcoming that Shon Philip ever
indulged in poaching, but it was not long before Sir Herbert's
suspicions were aroused as to the possibilities of Short Philip
being able to indulge in his taste for game at the baronet's
expense.

Seing the coveted field so. near to his house, and being of such
a land-grabbing nature, Sir Herbert eventually approached the
owner with overtures of purchase, offering a good price for it,
and making a number of fair promises as well. Nothing, how-
ever, could induce old Shon Philip to part with his property, and
he finally wound up by declaring he would not part with it, even
if the whole of Peterwell estate were given him for it, because it
had been in his family from time immemorial. It was the case
of the rich man who " had exceeding many flocks and herds, but
the poor man had nothing save one little ewe lamb."

Sir Herbert Lloyd was greatly annoyed by this definite and
perfectly natural refusal on the part of his humble neighbour,
upon whom he now looked with disgust, and who, in his opinion,
was no better than a beast in the field. The idea of his having
condescended to speak to Shon Philip and of being treated by
him with such curt refusal to sell his bit of land, was more than
the imperious baronet could tolerate. Had he not kissed the
royal fingers ? Had he not serfs innumerable to do his bidding ?
Was he now going to be frustrated in his covetous desires by this
man ? And a mighty oath was sworn by Sir Herbert that he
would have the field, " cost what it may."

" Ni ddelir hfcn adar ag ta."

Having once and for all made up his mind that he would have
possession of Shon Philip's field, if not by fair means, then by
foul ones, Sir Herbert thought of many ways, and in the first
place decided to try his hand upon cajolery ; he would cheat Shon
Philip by flattery, he would coax the coveted field from the old
man. The baronet called his agent, the immoral Oakley Leigh, to
his side, and between them evolved a scheme of procedure. Shon
Philipy the humble and happy, the contended and industrious

205

yeoman, whose character in the neighbourhood stood as high as
does the sun at noon-day, was frequently invited to the sump-
tuous mansion of Peterwell, and on every occasion was treated
in a truly hospitable manner. His thrifty and devoted wife was
of a far-seeing nature, and whenever her "master" could no
longer refuse the pressing invitations to sup under the baronet's
root, she would say to him, as she gave him parting word at the
gate, and carefully removed every fleck of dust from his best
coat : — " 'Nawr, Shon bach, meindia na feddwa nhw di, a myn'd
a'r ca' odd'wrtho ni, achos alii di fentro taw dyna ma' Syr
Herbert a'i hen gnaf am wneyd. Dere 'n ol yn glou, paid a
sefyll 'n hir," which, being Englished, runs, " Now, Shon dear, be
you sure and not let them make ye drunk, so as then to take
away the field, for mark you, that's what Sir Herbert and his
knave are up to doing. Come back soon, and don't stay late."

True was the old dame's foresight, and carefully did Shon
Philip bear his wife's injunctions in mind, though they were
scarcely necessary, for a more sober, abstemious man was not
to be found on the whole countryside. Ale from Peterwell's
spacious brewhouse, cider redolent of last autumn's apple crop,
brandy, and spirits, some marked with the brand of Cain, and
not a stranger to the smuggler's fingers, were lavishly put upon
the board, and offered by Sir Herbert with no niggardly hand.
All, however, was to no purpose. Shon Philip was too old a bird
to have his tail salted ; he was not to be caught napping, even
though wine flowed as water, and the cellars were freely sampled
for his benefit.

Notwithstanding all these cunning inducements, the baronet
and his agent signally failed to make their neighbour drink, and
their generosity did not prove to be the success they had antici-
pated, for, after every banquet, Shon Philip walked soberly home,
and was greeted with the approving smile of his devoted wife*

Sir Herbert's patience and energy were at last entirely ex-
hausted, and he had no alternative but to change his tactics, if
by any chance the coveted field was to come into his possession.
After many sleepless nights, for Sir Herbert's evil conscience
would not let its owner enjoy any rest, the baronet decided upon
another plan.

It was winter, and all Cardiganshire felt the touch of its
finger. In December, 1762, Sir Herbert caused a rumour to be
circulated in the district that a black ram had either been stolen

206

or had strayed from his flocks, when, as a matter of fact, it was
safely under lock and key in the Peter well barns. After two
days start of this false report, the baronet directed one of his
servants to go secretly, and under cover of a moonless night,
and deliberately throw the black ram down the wide open chim-
ney of Shon Philip's cottage hearth-place. This was accordingly
done by the servant, who knew his master too well not to carry
out his instructions to the very letter. Though but three o'clock
in the morning, Sir Herbert then sent for the parish constable
and acquainted him of his loss, desiring him immediately to
make a thorough search for the ram. At the same time, there
and then in that room at Peterwell, where the baronet held his
interviews and transacted his business, he told the constable that
he strongly suspected Shon Philip had stolen his ram, and handed
him a warrant, empowering him* to search the old man's house,
and that too without delay ; for did he not fear that, in his
honesty, Shon Philip would bring back the ram and tell how he
and his wife had found it that morning on his hearth 1

As Shon Philip had. always borne an excellent character, and
had been* looked -upon as one of the most upright men in the
count}', tie constable was greatly shocked, and could not but
express his surprise, , Sir; Herbert was not the man, however,
to be trifled with, and the poor constable was politely told that
his duty was to execute' the warrant and not to sympathise with
evildoers. It was now just after four o'clock, and the constable,
together with a body-guard of Sir Herbert's servants, hastily
aroused from their slumbers, proceeded direct to Shon Philip's
humble residence, and after much knocking — for the old man
and his wife slept the sound sleep of the ]ust — gained admit-
tance, and there, sure enough, on the hearth the ram was found.
Shon Philip declared his innocence of the transaction in the most
emphatic manner, but all to no purpose, and the constable had
no alternative but to arrest his old friend and neighbour, and
take him before Sir Herbert at Peterwell, who, needless to say,
was duly anticipating his arrival, and was ready to receive ^him.
When the constable and his prisoner confronted Sir Herbert, he
appeared to be full of joy and happiness — Shon Philip at last was
in his grasp ; the innocent fly was now in the spider's parlour.

As the law then stood, the punishment for sheep stealing was
death, and if found guilty, Shon Philip would have to suffer a
felon's end. Sir Herbert felt certain that now he had but to

THE NEW YORK

PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOH, LFNOX AND
TILDCN FOUNDATIONS.

lA&fe Uicyti !3ar.

Book Plate.

fnm <i« origami si*ei„«a, yena .

207

offer terms to the old man, who would at once accept the
guerdon of his powerful and revengeful neighbour; and the
terms offered by Sir Herbert were immediate possession of the
coveted field. After some preliminary remarks, Sir Herbert
took the prisoner to an inner and more private room, requesting
the constable to wait outside and guard the door.

[Was this the library ? Some of Sir Herbert's volumes
are yet to be found in the county. One of them, on
farming, in the library of Mr. Ben Morus, Lampeter, has
his book-plate. Mr. Herbert Millingchamp»Vaughan, Llan-
goedmore, says of it : —

This rare and interesting Chippendale book-plate of Sir
Herbert Lloyd contains several heraldic peculiarities. No
tinctures are given throughout, nor are the arms of Lady
Lloyd (Anne Powell of Nanteos) impaled ; whilst the Lloyd
of Peterwell family coat occupies the left half of the shield
— a most unusual and inconect arrangement. The ten
quarterings represented on the book-plate may be thus de-
scribed : —

Right half of shield : 1st, Or, a lion rampant reguardant
sable, for Gwaethfoed Fawr, lord of Ceredigion ; 2nd, Sable,
a lion rampant argent, for Teithwalch, lord of Ceredigion ;
3rd, Per pale, azure and sable three fleurs-de-lys or, for Ynyr,
or Ivor, prince of Gwent ; 4th, Gules, a lion rampant within
a bordure engrailed or, for Rhys ap Tewdwr ; 5th, Azure, a
wolf salient argent, for Tydwal Gloff; 6th, Gules, a chevron
between three roses, two and one, argent, barbed and seeded
proper, for Mewrig ap Arthyr ap Seissylt.

Left half of shield : Quarterly, 1st and 4th, Sable, three
scaling-ladders argent, two and one, on a chief gules a castle
triple-towered, the whole within a bordure argent, being a
variation of the arms ofCadivor ap Dinawal, lord of Castell
Hywel ; 2nd, Per pale, azure and gules, three lions rampant
argent within a bordure compony of gules and sable charged
with twelve bezants, for Herbert of Hafod Ychtryd ; 3rd,
Argent, a lion rampant sable, for Morgan Gwal y Cu.

On an inescutcheon argent, the Bloody Hand of Ulster.

Crest: A lion rampant reguardment sable holding a fleur-
de-lys argent in his dexter paw.]

208

Here, safely esconced with Shon Philip, the following inter-
view took place between him and Sir Herbert.

"Well, Shon" said Sir Herbert, "are you now prepared to
let me have your field ? Remember your life is absolutely in
my power, you had better save your neck by giving me the field
I want ; for, mark you, Shon Philip, I mean to have that land,
come what will. Will you part with it ? "

" No, Sir Herbert," quietly, but with firmness and determina-
tion, replied Shon, "I shall not part with it under any con-
sideration whatever."

"You will have to part either with your field or your life.
Choose which of the two you like," said Sir Herbert.

"With my life, sir," said Shon with warmth and feeling, as
his clear blue eyes looked straight into those of the despicable
baronet. Whereupon the constable was called into the room,
and received his instructions direct from Sir Herbert to remove
the prisoner, and bring him back again at noon, and to place him
meanwhile for safety in the parish stocks.

The prisoner was then taken away into Lampeter, as desired,
and his feet made fast in the stocks. This method of public
punishment was of very remote origin, and from existing records
it is clear that it was very extensively used in Cardiganshire.
The stocks, either for hands or feet, or for both, were to be seen
within living memory in many towns and villages, and still
stand in some remote country places, a grim reminder of former
days. At Aberystwyth the stocks were placed right in front of
the old guild hall, where the clock tower now stands; at Tregaron,
as we see by a painting still extant, they occupied a site close to
the parish church. The punishment was last administered in
the county at Adpar, so recently as 1872, when a prisoner was
placed in them for three hours by the feet, and three hours by
the hands. Much in a similar way then did honest Shon Philip
sit exposed to the gaze of • his sympathising neighbours, from
early morn to high noon. The constable, however much he
might feel sure of Shon's innocence, knew only too well that if
his prisoner's escape could be accomplished, his own life would
be of no more value than Shoris, so he remained on duty, staff
in hand, close by the stocks, until the hour arrived when he
was to proceed with him to Peterwell. Here he was again
brought before Sir Herbert Lloyd, who formally charged him
with stealing his property, to wit, one black ram.

209

One of the Peterwell farm bailiffs, named John Woodward,
was first examined. His evidence was to the effect that on the
12th of that month he missed a black ram from the flock at
Peterwell, the property of his master, Sir Herbert Lloyd, Bart.,
and he swore that the ram then and there produced was the
missing one. Next came Thomas Evans, the constable, who
proved the finding of the ram in the house place of Shon Philip,
and the apprehension of the prisoner. Some further formal
evidence was given, and Shon was committed for trial at the
spring assizes at Cardigan.

In order to secure his safe transit from Peterwell to the
county gaol at Cardigan, and to prevent the possibility of his
rescue at the hands of sympathetic neighbours, no fewer than
six special constables were then and there sworn in before Sir
Herbert, and to their tender mercy, with that of the town's
constable, Shon Philip was confided. A large number of Sir
Herbert's tenantry, acting on their master's instructions, also
accompanied the prisoner, and formed a mounted body-guard.
They continually yelled and hooted at the prisoner all through
the snow-covered roads until Cardigan was reached, by which
time Shon, who had been made to walk the whole distance of
twenty-nine miles, was looked upon as a criminal of the very
blackest and deepest dye.

The assizes, or great session, at which Shon Philip was to be
tried, were opened at Cardigan in March, 1763, with the usual
attendant ceremonial forms and festivities. In order to be
present in good time to prosecute poor Shon Philip, Sir Herbert
Lloyd started from Peterwell the day before the trial, accom-
panied by a numerous retinue of tenants and vassals, who
formed themselves into an imposing procession. They were
all armed with long oaken staves, and their ostentatious march
into the old town of Cardigan created mingled feelings of horror
and admiration among the inhabitants — horror at the desperate
and soldier-like appearance of the processionists, admiration at
the horses and the majestic turn-out of Sir Herbert. It was
long remembered on the country side as being really and truly
a right baronial procession, which had put many a royal one
in total obscurity. Sir Herbert at that time represented the
Cardigan boroughs in Parliament.

The eventful day of trial was now come, and John Philip —
better known as Shon Philip — was placed in the dock, and duly

27

210

charged with stealing a black ram, the property of Sir Herbert
Lloyd, of Peterwell, Baronet.

To this abominable and false charge the prisoner, in a firm
and clear voice, pleaded not guilty, and further declared that
he knew absolutely nothing about the matter. The Attorney-
General appeared to prosecute for Sir Herbert Lloyd, but the
poor prisoner was undefended, the attorneys-at-law being too
timid to take up his defence. The case was opened in a most
lucid manner by the Attorney-General, and after he had examined
the necessary witnesses, he brought his case to a close with an
appeal to the jury to find the prisoner guilty, so as to terrorise
evildoers from committing similar crime in the county. The
judge then summed up in very unmistakable terms, and em-
phasised strongly upon the fact of the prisoner being so
audacious as to go near Sir Herbert Lloyd s mansion, to say
nothing of taking away one of his favourite rams. Such a man
was not, in the judges opinion, worthy of any sympathy what-
soever, and most certainly should not be treated with any merci-
ful consideration. With this summing up ringing in their ears,
the jury retired to consider their verdict.

Fear no more the frown o' the great*
Thou art past the tyrant's stroke ;
• Care no more to clothe and eat,

To thee the reed is as the oak.

t

A majority of the jurymen in whose hands was the fate of
honest Shon Philip consisted of Sir Herbert Lloyd's tenants, who
were under his iron rule, and stood in much awe of him, and the
verdict of " Guilty " which they unanimously returned, and that
in a surprisingly short time, was the only one expected of them.
From the beginning to the end, the so-called "trial" of this inno-
cent man had been the greatest farce imaginable. When the jury
filed back into the court, and the foreman had announced the
decision of those twelve British men "good and true," there was
much suppressed excitement in the court, which was thronged
by men and women who had walked or ridden thither from
distant parts of the county.

The scene when the judge, assumed the black cap, and, after
a few words of solemn warning to all similar "evildoers," pro-
nounced the death sentence in the usual solemn form, was one
which never was forgotten by anyone present. Years and years

211

after all the actors in this "trial" had passed to their reward, it
was the subject for talk in winter evenings round the firesides
and in the ingle nooks of many cottages in Cardiganshire.

In due time the day of execution arrived, and Short Philip,
brave and unflinching to the last, was hanged on the gallows
which were erected on "Banc y Warren," situated some two
miles from Cardigan, on the road to Aberayron. A great crowd
of people had gathered from all parts to witness the innocent
old man's suffering of the law's last penalty. Deep, and under-
voiced, but none the less real and sympathetic, was the opinion
of these sturdy Welsh folk, though their fear of Sir Herbert's
revenge was too great to allow of their openly giving vent to
their condolence with the victim of his avaricious and grasping
nature.

Inexpressively sad and mournful was the scene caused by one
small group of tender-hearted women who tried, but vainly, to
console Short Philip's aged widow. Brave to the last, tender,
trusty, and true had she borne up, knowing full well the untar-
nished innocence of him \fho for nigh fifty years had been to
her a loving husband. Her cries of anguish as she was led away
from the spot rang long afterwards in the ears on which they
fell.

At last the coveted field was his, and its obnoxious owner no
longer troubled Sir Herbert.

Soon after the execution a deed of conveyance was forth-
coming, which purported to have the cross of the late Short
Philip to it. Needless to say, it had been drawn up after his
death, though carefully dated some time before the alleged
offence of ram-stealing was said to have been committed ! It
seems at first sight almost incredible of belief, but so it was, and
in this way the field was obtained by the baronet of royal and
kingly favour. Although he was in high glee over his " victory,"
Sir Herbert, as we shall see, did not long have the pleasure of
enjoying his ill-gotten gain, for the field passed over to strange
hands when the baronet's pomp and pride were for ever buried
in oblivion.

Having once tried his hand, and that successfully, in this
game of acquiring or annexing coveted property, it is not
surprising that Sir Herbert Lloyd should soon be impelled by
his elastic conscience and sordid ambition again to venture a
similar game. In the middle of the Peterwell estate was a

212

farm called Maesypwll, diligently and carefully tilled by its
owner and his wife, whose forefathers had long possessed the
place, which had descended from father to son for several
generations. This homestead, like Cae Shon Philip, was eagerly
coveted by Sir Herbert, and how to obtain possession of it
considerably taxed his ingenious mind. At last he hit upon
much the same plan as had proved successful in Short's case ;
but this time, happily, he counted upon his chicken ere it was
hatched, for the farmer and his wife proved one too many for
Sir Herbert.

As a preliminary step he tried to persuade the farmer, by
deceit and by flattery, to sell his estate, but all to no purpose.
The more Sir Herbert and his agent tried, the firmer became the
owner's resolve not to part with his possession. The farmer,
however, was every way as crafty as the baronet, whose object
was defeated in its early stage. Nothing daunted, the baronet
determined to proceed in his iniquitous design, and decided on
playing much the same game as the ram-dropping in Shoris
case. Evidently the farmer knew all about the tactics to be
employed, and was consequently on the alert, and kept Sir Her-
bert's and his servants' movements under keen observation.

One night in the month of January, 1766, Sir Herbert called
a trusty servant to his inner room, and there unfolded to him
his plan. He was to go that very night — again was it a black
and moonless one — and take with him a small bundle, which Sir
Herbert handed to him, ready packed and strongly corded. This
contained a valuable and much prized piece of Arras, or tapestry,
part of some hanging in the entrance hall at Peterwell, and well
known to all who entered the mansion this way. The servant
was instructed to take it under his cloak, and go to the farmer's
upper garden, which, as in the case of so many Welsh cottages,
was somewhat on a higher level than the house, and gave ready
access to the open chimney, down which he was silently to lower
the bundle till it rested on the hearth. These directions were
duly observed, and carried out so effectively that at midnight
the bundle rested on the dying embers.

Now it happened that the farmer had some idea that within
a very few nights such a trick would be tried upon him;
accordingly he had all his lights out, and quiet reigned within
his cottage. Round the hearth, however, sat the farmer and his
wife, and some three or four neighbours, together with an old

213

wandering harper, who was being accommodated with a night's
lodgings, in return for playing many an ancient air and lively
tune earlier in the evening. None of the farmer's company, save
the harper, knew what was coming ; there they sat listening to
the stories from afar told them by the wandering minstrel. All
of a sudden down came the bundle, much to the surprise of the
company, who instinctively turned for advice to the grey-haired
harper. Cautiously and silently the farmer's wife — with true
womanly instinct — opened the door, just enough to allow her to
hear the footstep of the retreating servant from Peterwell. In-
stantly the coast was clear, the harper's advice was acted on, and
a large fire was kindled, on which the unopened bundle and its
lowering string were placed ; and not till they were thoroughly
reduced to ashes did the little company silently separate. The
farmer and his wife sought repose in their great oaken cupboard-
looking bedstead, leaving the harper to sleep on the settle by
the side of the fireplace, with its heap of white ashes.

The servant having reported to his master that the order was
carried out, Sir Herbert at once sent him to summon the con-
stable, to whom, as before, he handed a warrant to search
Maesypwll at break of dawn. Thither he went, and, loudly
rapping on the door with his staff, demanded admission in the
name of the King. Hastily clothing herself, the good wife inno-
cently opened the door and admitted the constable, who, by
virtue of the warrant, began his search, much to the admirably
assumed surprise of the woman. The old harper was aroused
from his slumbers on the settle, and the farmer, from the inner
room, gruffly demanded what was wanted. All was to no pur-
pose \ nothing could be found of the bundle, for the heap of
cold ashes on the hearth told no tales. No bundle was there,
and as nothing which could possibly lead to its identification was
forthcoming, the constable had no other alternative but to return
to Peterwell and lay the result of his search before the baronet,
who was anxiously awaiting both the bundle and its assumed
thief. Great was his indignation and disgust at the complete
failure of the plan and the loss of one of his best bits of tapestry.

This story as told here was heard so far back as 1825 — only
fifty-nine years after the event was said to have taken place — by
my father, to whom it was told in his boyhood by an intelligent
man, who was a servant at Peterwell in the employ of Sir Her-
bert Lloyd. The writer is also indebted to him for the following

214

story, which throws up the better side of Sir Herbert's character,
and, so far as is known, has never before been printed.

" Hoist with his own peter."

So far as our story has gone, we have only had what may be
termed the seamy and blacker side of Sir Herbert Lloyd's
character and actions ; but before the power of the baronet is
broken, and before we come to the fall of the great house of
Peterwell, we are happily able to relate one or two true inci-
dents which redound somewhat to his credit, and remove, be
it never so little, the impression that his was a nature which had
absolutely no better parts. There is no one, however bad he
may be, who has not some redeeming trait, or some spot where
his higher self does not hold sway. So it was in the case of Sir
Herbert. He knew how to steal lands for himself, no matter
what depth of mud he had to wade through ere he grasped the
coveted lily; he also knew how to defend those who stole goods
to relieve their poorer neighbours.

Just outside the boundaries of the Peterwell estate there lived,
in a cabin by the roadside, a notorious character, known by all
the countryside as Shon Britsh Cock — i.e., "John of the Red
Breeches" — so called from the invariable colour of his nether
garments. If any man was a real character, he was. No one
could tell you exactly how he eked out a living; he was the
friend of all the younger men of the district, who could rely on
Shon telling them where good ferreting was to be had, and on
supplying them with ferrets of the best breed. He was also
weather wise — so much so that the farmers had a faith in him
which never wavered, as to the time for them to reap their corn
or to stay their sickle. He was the welcome guest at the harvest
home suppers of the district, where he sang with quavering
voice to the tones of an ancient harp, which his fingers lovingly
stringed.

Shon lived by himself ; no kith or kin had he, saving always a
notoriously ugly, yet withal most faithful terrier, which was
never far off from its master's heels. No person of real, genuine
poverty ever appealed in vain to Shon for relief. If he had
nothing in his cabin, he would simply tell the applicant to come
back again the next day, when the pressing need would invari-
ably be met by some forthcoming dole. Over and over again had

215

Sir Herbert been witness of such acts of charity at the bands of
Shon Britsh Coch, until at last he won the tacit goodwill of the
baronet, who befriended him on more than one occasion. One
thing is certain, Shon never helped himself to other folk's goods
for his own personal benefit ; in other words, vrfien he stole he
stole for people poorer than himself.

One day in the late autumn, after the grain was harvested,
and all barns were full to bursting, an aged woman, named
Gwen John, came with tottering steps to Short's cabin, to tell him
she had not a bit of corn to take with her to Lampeter mill for
grinding. Her lot was hard — no food, no money, no friend —
and her appeal touched Shon's heart. He had no corn in his
cabin to give her ; he could but ask some wealthy neighbour for
a sheaf for the old dame, so he bid her come again on the
morrow.

Knowing that the barns of Llanfechan were full, and that the
sound of the flails,* as they fell in measured rhythm on the
threshing floor, was to be heard there daily, he determined to go
and ask for a full sheaf of barley, wherewith to relieve the wants
of the ancient woman. So with staff in hand, and terrier at
heels, off he trudged on his mission of charity. Arriving at the
house, he made known his request to the steward, but, alas ! his
appeal fell on dry ground, and he was answered that — " O's dim
llafur yma, o's 'da ni ddim 'n hunen" ("There is no corn here,
we have none ourselves "). Unknown to Shon and the steward, it
so happened that Sir Herbert Lloyd was that day at Llanfechan,
and overheard the answer given by the steward. Sir Herbert,
however, thought no more of it at the time, though he felt sure
that, by hook or crook, Shon would get the corn ere the rising of
the sun next day. Shon was not to be beaten in his quest, and,
passing through the stack-yard on his way out, saw some sheaves
of barley on the ground, waiting to be garnered into the barn ;
so he determined to rest awhile under the trees in a neigh-
bouring coppice, and return at night to take one of them back
with him. The sun had set in golden glory, and the moon had
risen ere Shon awoke, refreshed and invigorated, to capture his
barley. No one seemed about to witness the old man taking the
grain, with which, once under his arm, he made for home, there
to await the poor beggar's call.

* I saw wheat being flailed on a threshing floor in Lampeter parish at Christmas,
1904.— G.B.E.

216

In the morning, true to his word, he was able to relieve
the wants of Gwen John, who, with tears of gratitude in her
eyes, straightway made for Lampeter mill, there to have the
grain ground for her use.

Shon's night visit to the rick-yard at Llanfechan had been seen
by the steward/ who had so rudely repulsed him earlier in the
day. Without losing time he laid the theft before his master,
with the result that Shon was committed to take his trial at the
next assize at Cardigan, though admitted to bail, which was
readily forthcoming. The evidence to be offered by the steward
was deemed conclusive, and no one thought that Shon had any
chance of acquittal ; but the old man kept his defence to himself.
At the trial he pleaded not guilt}', and, by way of proof, sub-
mitted that there was no corn to take at Llanfechan, for had not
the steward told him so ?

This the steward straightway denied, further adding that
he had not seen Shon before his night's visit to the yard. Here
was conflicting evidence, what was the jury to do ? All of them
knew Shon; and, truth to tell, all of them stood somewhat in
awe of him. He was their weather prophet, their ferret breeder,
their minstrel, their general handy man. On the other side, it
was certain he had told Gwen John, when she first called on him
for some corn, that he then had none, and that on the following
morning he bad been able to relieve her wants.

Unexpectedly another witness was forthcoming, and, to the
surprise of all in court, Sir Herbert Lloyd, Bart., M.P., desired
to give evidence. The judge balanced the heavy tortoise-shell
rimmed glasses on his nose, and re-adjusted his wig ; the jury,
with studious politeness, returned the courtly bow made to them
by the baronet as he entered the witness box, and the Llan-
fechan steward felt that now the cause was his. To the pro-
found astonishment, however, of all present, this time Sir
Herbert, the "Avaricious," the "Land Thief," the "Oppressor
of the Poor," was on the side of the accused man, and simply
related how he had heard the steward say to Shon Biitsh Coch,
" There is no corn here, we have none ourselves," and his respect
for the steward was such that he, could not for one moment
doubt that he had followed his invariable custom on this occa-
sion of telling the truth ; therefore, if there was then no corn at
Llanfechan, it stood to reason that Shon could not have taken
any away. With a gleam of satisfaction in his eyes, expressive

217

of the words, " That's one for you all," and with another pro-
found obeisance to judge and jury, Sir Herbert resumed his seat
with the other county magnates.

" Not guilty," immediately said the foreman of the jury, who
did not find it necessary to leave their box ; " Not guilty," said
the spectacled judge; "Not guilty," said Shon, as his red
breeches disappeared from the dock !

" Take a week's wages and go now," thundered the master of
Llanfechan to his cold-hearted and lying steward ; and, said Sir
Herbert, " Call round to-morrow at Peterwell, Shon, for a pipkin
of harvest ale."

its Jail.

" When the cat's away, the mice will play."

This act of Sir Herbert, in giving evidence in favour of Slum
Britsh Coch, was so much appreciated by his tenants and others,
that for the last two or three years of his life he never could
enter Lampeter, much less drive or walk through its quaint,
narrow streets, without their being practically lined by the
inhabitants, who stood, caps in hand, and touching their fore-
locks, whilst the Peterwell baronet passed through the ranks.
My father, who has had this scene described to him by an eye-
witness of it, said that words would probably fail accurately to
record it, so profound was the outward obeisance, so servile was
the reception. There the old men, and the young ones, too,
stood waiting the passing by of the master of Peterwell. Now
it would be in his lumbering travelling coach, in which he per-
formed his journeys to and from St. Stephen's ; again it would
be in early morning, as he walked abroad to give eye to his
numerous possessions ; or perchance, rare and welcome sight then
as now to country yokels, he would be seen in pink, on his high-
bred hunter, about to join the hounds. Think what such a scene
would be like: no pavements then such as we are accustomed
to tread, but cobbled paths, described once to the writer, by an
elderly dame, as u baked kidneys " — paths which have long since
gone out of fashion, but samples of which may still be seen in
paved courts in various parts of the county. Like thatching,
and flailing, and sickle reaping, the art of putting down a cobble
path is fast becoming a lost one. Neither had the roadway any

28

218

of that smooth surface to which we are more or less accustomed
to-day. It can best be described as a system of small earth
waves, one following the other in orderly fashion, so that transit
in a lumbering, sprmgless coach, without rubber tyres, was far
from being a pleasant experience. Old-time Lampeter had nu-
merous specimens of black-and-white houses, with over-hanging
eaves, quaint gables, and dormer windows — their roofs were
either of tiles or thatch, warm in winter and cool in summer.
Down-spouts to cany off the rain were the exception and not
the rule ; and the glazing was of that peculiar " bottle-bottom "
glass, of which we fancy one specimen, bearing the name
" Lloyd," may yet be seen in private hands in Lampeter. The
posting inns were often the rendezvous of Sir Herbert Lloyd,
where he would meet the mail coaches on their arrival, about
twice weekly. At such times these inn yards were gay and
lively places ; in winter the benumbed passengers called loudly
for hot coffee and posset, for spiced ale, and for punch — that
beverage loved of all old coachmen, in which the five ingredients
of spirit, water (not too much), sugar, lemon juice, and spices,
held sway. The guard would bring the latest news from far-off
town, the driver would chatter of incidents on the road, and the
passengers would stare at the native women in their quaint hats.

The vicarage of that day stood at the lower end of the road
leading to the church, and on the left side, opposite the present
school buildings. Between the house and the road was a neat
and well-kept garden, with its path lined on one side with a row
of gooseberry bushes, while the other side was allotted to some
old-fashioned flowers, simples, and herbs. The house, known for
long, from its situation at the foot of the hill, as " Penrhiw," was
a straw-thatched, white-washed building, quaint with picturesque
gables.

There was no college then to call for their attention, and it
was not for more than sixty years afterwards that the old town
hall was erected (1818) by Mr. Hart Davis, who had acquired
Peterwell and its appurtenances by purchase from Colonel Bailey
Wallis, son of Mr. Albany Wallis, a London attorney (p. 102).

So surely as the afternoon's shadow lengthened on the sun-
dial in Lampeter churchyard did Sir Herbert Lloyd's gambling
and betting propensities increase, more especially during the last
two years of his life. These mad passions grew upon him ;
night after night the magnificent hall of Peterwell was the

219

scene of drunken orgies. Was it to be wondered at, then, that
" Ichabod " was being written on the walls of stately Peterwell 1
Slowly, but surely, Nemesis was overtaking Sir Herbert, who,
playing propriety one Sunday by attending divine service in
Lampeter church, heard the death knell of an immoral man's life
rung in a sermon preached by the vicar from those terribly true
words — "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: whatsoever a
man soweth, that shall he also reap." It was too late, however,
to be of any practical use; Sir Herbert was too far gone to
benefit by the old man's utterances — to the flesh the baronet
had sown, and from the flesh was he now reaping corruption.
The very walls of Peterwell were cursing him ; had they not
amongst their stones some from ill-fated Maesyfelin ?

Sir Herbert's frequent visits to London were never regretted
by the servants at Peterwell ; nor, if truth must be told, were
the inhabitants of Lampeter ever sorry when his periodical
absences came round. For a time the eye of the thieving hawk
was blinked, and they felt that they could go in peace without
being watched by the tyrant, who was ever ready to bring down
the whip on their shoulders, and to acquire possession of any
coveted Naboth's vineyard. One day, about the end of July,
1769, the great travelling coach was drawn up before the Peter-
well mansion to receive its lord and master, and by easy stages
convey him to the "Black Bull" in Holborn. Ostensibly Sir
Herbert was going to London on Parliamentary business ; really
he was due there to take part in a more than usually riotous and
blackguardly meeting of a gambling club, of which he was one
of the most prominent and knavish members.

Little did his servants think, as they heard the wheels of the
heavy vehicle crunch over the gravel and pass through the gates,
that it took the baronet away for the last time, never to return
alive to Peterwell, and that ere many weeks were over, Lam-
peter was to be witness of such a scene as never before nor since
has taken place within its sedate and orderly borders.

A knave when tried on honesty's plain rule,

And when by that of reason a mere fool ;

The world's best comfort was, his doom was passed ;

Die when he might, he must be damned at last.— Cowper.

The heavy travelling coach, with the coat of arms of Sir Herbert
Lloyd, Bart., emblazoned in heraldic colours on its panels, duly

220

arrived in Holborn, and deposited its lord and owner in the yard
of the "Black Bull," the only other occupant being his trusty
valet, who carefully guarded the small leather case containing
the inevitable brace of loaded pistols, without which Sir Herbert
never travelled afar. Having taken up his quarters, and made
all the post boys, hostlers, and servants the richer for his coming,
Sir Herbert started off for his " Club," a gambling den situated
in the adjacent neighbourhood of Brooke Street, close by the
house where Chatterton, the boy poet of Bristol, died of star-
vation on the 25th August, 1770, just a year after the events
treated of in this chapter. At the time of which we write this
was one of the lowest purlieus in London, the resort of all that
infamy and vice from which the district is but slowly recovering
itself — an improvement due in no small measure to the heroic
labours and Christian work of the late Rev. Father Mackonochie
and the staff of St. Alban's Church. Night after night, year in
and year out, all the devilry of the town held its sway, and
many a dark and foul deed here enacted was never brought to
light. The house to which Sir Herbert wended his steps was
one that no casual passer by would notice. Having given the
pre-arranged signal, three quick knocks and two slow ones, on
the rusty knocker, shaped like a lion's face with a heavy ring in
its jaws, the baronet was duly admitted by a diminutive and
somewhat precocious boy, whose great value to the proprietor of
the den was that he had an unfailing knowledge of every
member. So much was this the case that no stranger had ever
been known to have succeeded in gaining admission. Round an
ordinary deal table, over which was suspended a ring of iron,
studded with guttering candles, the grease from them dropping
in little hillocks on the table, sat some half-dozen men, two
being peers of the realm, one an official of subordinate position
in the government, and the others "men of the town." They
were evidently awaiting the arrival of Sir Herbert, whose en-
trance was greeted with an approval of "Hail fellow, well met!"
Leisurely divesting his portly frame of the Welsh homespun
cloth cloak in which it was clothed, he took a vacant stool, and
play soon began. Everybody provided his own dice, and for a
time all went pleasantly and smoothly. Soon, however, disputes
arose, fierce and fiercer waxed the quarrelling, higher and higher
rose the oaths and voices, all shouting at once. Sir Herbert was
winning, by fair means (if fair there be in gambling) or by foul,

k

221

and ere the players dispersed he had won more than all the rest.
Elated by his successes he returned to the inn, just as the dawn
of the August day was breaking, there to sleep off the excitraent,
and prepare himself for another spell on the morrow. Though
drink of various kinds was freely supplied in the club, Sir
Herbert knew better than to partake of it too freely, for deep
potions of liquor are not conducive to steady hands and clear
brains.

Several nights running did the baronet take his place at the
gaming table, only to find that the " luck " of the first night was
gradually forsaking him ; the higher he staked and played, the
greater was the sum he lost. On the night of the 17th of
August, the play had become more than usually venturesome,
and Sir Herbert was heavily hit by his losses. What was he to
do ? As he tossed himself down on the four-poster bed in his
rooms at the "Black Bull/' hoping that sleep would come to
him, he resolved that on the following night, the last of that
season's gathering of the club, he would stake higher than ever
before, for surely it would not be his lot always to lose ! Al-
ready his losses amounted to several thousands of pounds, for
which he had given his I.O.U., though how and when he was to
discharge his " debt of honour " (save the words) he knew not.

The morning of the 18th of August, 1769 — that fateful day
for Sir Herbert — broke* clear and bright : even London, though
not then so smoke-grimed and dirty as to-day, rejoiced in the
sun, and all nature seemed to laugh and sing, so brilliant was its
glory. Sir Herbert slept late, nor did he awake until his valet
came to rouse him, and to bring him his letters, which had come
in by the mail coach that morning ; amongst them one from his
steward at Peterwell, telling him that the excellent crops of
grain on Cae Shon Philip and the adjoining fields in the vale
of Teify had been utterly swept away by a terrible and unex-
pected flood, supposed to have been occasioned by the bursting
of a storm cloud in the neighbourhood of Maesyfelin, causing
River Dulas to empty itself like a deluge into the Teify. More-
over — misfortune, as is usually the case, did not come singly —
his pet hunter had cut himself so fearfully by running up
against the heavy stakes with which Sir Herbert had guarded
Cae Shon Philip, that the steward feared he would have to shoot
him. All seemed as dark to Sir Herbert as it was bright out-
side ; his corn gone, his hunter gone, his money gone. He had

222

little or no appetite for breakfast that morning, and, to try and
relieve his feelings, he walked briskly down to St. Stephen's to
see what was going on there. Most of his personal friends bad
"tied," and betaken themselves to their grouse moors. All
seemed against him ; so he strolled away to Hyde Park, there
to while away the rest of the day. He wandered aimlessly
about till it was far spent, his conscience— not yet quite silent-
telling him in no measured tones he was doing wrong. For a
time it seemed as if Sir Herbert's better nature would, after all,
assert itself, and allow him to return to Peterwell without once
again going to the club. As ill fate would have it, as he was
wending his way along Piccadilly, on his road to the "Black
Bull," he met one of his boon companions, to whom he owed
a large portion of that " debt of honour " which was so troubling
him. Nothing would do but that Sir Herbert must go and dine
with him, and then walk down to Brooke Street for the final
evening's play.

His fate was sealed — there was no escape for Sir Herbert,
who readily consented to accept his friend's invitation. After
dinner the two strolled down to Holborn, to allow of Sir
Herbert's calling at his inn, nominally to arrange with his valet
about the time of starting on the return journey to Wales ;
really, to put his brace of pistols in his pocket, in case of need,
for Sir Herbert scented a row. Arrived in Brooke Street, play
proceeded with heavily increased stakes, and " luck " was dead
against Sir Herbert. About two o'clock in the morning, it is
said that he found himself to be a loser of some £7,000, with
little or no ready cash to meet his creditors, and with but small
chance of immediately raising any, now that his grain had been
swept away by the flood. What could he do ? To run away, if
he could, would be a cowardly act; to break off playing would
be to cut the ground from under his feet, so far as any further
chance of recouping himself was concerned. On the plea of
seeking a little fresh air, he walked out to the small garden at
the rear of the house. Nothing wrong was then suspected ; but,
as he did not return with the first streak of the dawn, his com-
panions began to feel anxious about him, and they went out
in search of him.

Alas, how changed ! Expressive of his mind,
His eyes are sunk, arms folded, head reclined ;

223

Those awful syllables, hell, death, and sin,
Though whispered, plainly tell what works within ;
That conscience there performs her proper part,
And writes a doomsday sentence on his heart ;
Forsaking, and forsaken of all friends,
He now perceives where earthly pleasure ends ;
Hard task ! for one who lately knew no care,
And harder still as learnt beneath despair. — Cowper.

Sir Herbert's companions had not long to search for him ; there,
on the garden seat, with face upturned to the cold grey morning
sky, lay his body, shot through the temples by his own hand,
from which had dropped one of the brace of pistols which he
had brought with him from the inn. The gamblers were horri-
fied, and, for a while, stunned by the sight. They were not
long, however, before they realised the necessity of taking some
steps to make known the matter. First of all they removed
every trace of gambling and of play in the parlour, to which
they carried the dead body, and placed it on the deal table, with
the pistols and case by its side. Leaving the boy to watch it,
and with strict injunctions to admit no one until his return,
the owner of the "den" speedily made his way to the "Black
Bull," and, having awakened Sir Herbert's valet, told him what
had happened, taking care so to represent matters as to make
it appear that death had been accidentally caused whilst Sir
Herbert was cleaning one of his pistols. The reason for this
was apparent ; a verdict of felo de se would at once preclude the
body from Christian burial, and, further, it would draw very
undesirable attention to the house and its character.

Accompanied by the valet, who hastily secured Sir Herbert's
writing case and papers, the owner of the Brooke Street " den "
proceeded to the parish offices, where, after some time spent in
thoroughly arousing the old watchman, they reported the acci-
dental death of a member of Parliament in the garden of the
house in Brooke Street, where he had been staying on a short
visit, and requested that the necessary inquest might be held
without delay, as the body had to be removed forthwith to
Wales for burial.

The coroner having been notified of the death, and of the
rank and station of the deceased baronet, readily consented to
hold the inquest that afternoon, more especially as he had also
received a visit the same morning from a tall, closely-veiled lady,
the "sister" of Sir Herbert, who had then paid him in double
the usual fee, so as to expedite matters.

224

A jury of twelve men good and true was empanelled, and,
having viewed the body, inspected the discharged pistol, and
seen the spot in the garden where the " accident ' occurred, with
the dirty cleaning rags Sir Herbert had been using lying on the
seat, the evidence of his friend, the master of the house, was
taken. He reported how he had asked Sir Herbert to come and
spend a day or two with him ; how, after a walk in Hyde Park,
and a call at his inn at Holborn to inform his valet where he
was going, and to be ready to start for Peterwell on the fol-
lowing day, Sir Herbert had come to his house, bringing with
him his pistol case and his writing portfolio. Having supped,
they had sat talking in the garden, the night being gratefully
cool after the prostrating heat of the day, and Sir Herbert had
employed himself in cleaning his pistols preparatory to his long
journey home. Leaving him at the work for a while, the master
had gone into the house to shut it up and to send his page
to bed, when he heard the report of a pistol, and, fearing what
had happened, he and the boy had rushed into the garden, only
to find Sir Herbert's body lying dead on the seat, with the
cleaned pistol by its side. This evidence was confirmed by the
page boy in all details ; and Sir Herbert's " sister," appeared to
be deeply affected, gave evidence that when Sir Herbert had
called upon her the previous afternoon, on his return from St.
Stephen's, he had been in his usual good spirits, and was then
on his way to spend the night with an old friend in Brooke
Street.

With such evidence before them, the jury had no difficulty
whatever in returning the needed verdict of '? Accidental Death,"
which was accordingly done. So soon as the formal proceedings
were over, the "sister" generously presented the twelve jury-
men with a crown apiece, and the page boy with half a guinea,
in recognition of their valued services. Meanwhile, Sir Herbert's
trusty valet and coachman had been making arrangements for
the necessary conveyance of their master's body to Peterwell.
They decided that it would be best to excite no attention what-
ever on the road, and with this end in view they had the body
enclosed in a plain and light elm shell, which they further put
into a strong, oblong deal box, so as to resemble, as much as
possible, a case of valuable furniture being carefully conveyed
on the top of the heavy travelling coach to Peterwell. In all
the arrangements they were assisted by the "sister," whose

225.

purse was freely placed at their disposal, and who was anxious
to do all that lay in her power for one who had been most
generous to her. By means of prompt and liberal cash payments
to the undertaker and the carpenter, the body was coffined, and
all made ready to start on the homeward journey on the day
after the inquest.

At an early hour, Sir Herbert's coach with its four horses was
brought round from the " Black Bull " to the wide old-fashioned
garden gate in Brooke Street, where the undertaker and his men
were in waiting to hoist the case on the top. Here, carefully
covered up with rugs and canvas, the coffin in its case was safely
secured for the long journey down to Peterwell. So effectually
was it disguised by its coverings, that it entirely escaped undue
observation, more especially as it bore large labels enjoining
" great cace " for the " valuable furniture." Thus did Sir Her-
bert Lloyd, Baronet, journey to the home of his ancestors —
literally from the gambling den to the grave !

In what a terrible way, and how speedily, too, had those
results of an evil life come to him, which had been so graphically
pointed out by the vicar of Lampeter, on that last occasion when
Sir Herbert had been a worshipper in the old church. Verily,
verily,

The Mind, that broods o'er guilty woes,

Is like the Scorpion girt by fire,

In circle narrowing as it glows,
• The flames around their captive close,

Till inly searched by thousand throes,

And maddening in her ire,

One sad and sole relief she knows,

The sting she nourish'd for her foes,

Whose venom never yet was vain,

Gives but one pang, and cures all pain,

And darts into her desperate brain :

So do the dark in soul expire,

Or live like Scorpion girt by fire ;

So writhes the mind Kemorse hath riven,

Unfit for earth, undoom'd for heaven,

Darkness above, despair beneath,

Around it flame, within it death !

At Oxford, the valet decided to proceed 'in advance of the
coach, so as to announce the death of Sir Herbert, and to
prepare for his burial. He therefore procured a fast travelling
chaise, and, by means of relays of good horses used to the road,
was able to reach Peterwell a few hours before the coach, and to

29

226

order the carpenters on the estate to make ready a heavy oak
coffin, covered with black cloth, in which to place the shell con-
taining the body. Despite, however, the precautions of these
two devoted servants, the unexpected was to happen before Sir
Herberts body could rest quietly in the vault.

Thus unlamented let me die ;
Steal from the world, and not a stone
Tell where I lie.— Pope.

The sudden arrival of Sir Herbert's valet at Peterwell, and
that, too, in a travelling chaise never before seen in the district,
told his tenantry and neighbours that something unusual was
the matter, and before long the news spread far and wide that
the master of. Peterwell had been killed in London, and that his
body was being brought home for burial in Lampeter church.

However great was the desire for keeping the matter quiet,
the very fact that a large and expensive coffin was being made
in the workshop by the Peterwell carpenter and his men was
sufficient to set all tongues wagging, and to excite the residents
to be on the watch for the arrival of the body. In this they
were grievously disappointed, being out-manoeuvred by the di-
plomacy of the valet, who announced that the coffin must be
finished by such an hour so as to meet the stage coach, on which
the body was being brought down. Moreover, the mounted
tenantry were to arrange to meet at Peterwell when the coffin
was ready, to accompany it to Llandovery, and, in solemn state,
bring the body thence to Lampeter. Much preparation was
being made to carry out these arrangements, without the valet
saying a word to anyone of what he and the coachman had
really decided on doing — namely, to avoid going through Llan-
dovery at all, but, by taking a quiet cross-country road, bring
round the coach and its case of "furniture" to Peterwell, so
timing the journey as to arrive at the house a little after one
o'clock on the early morning of the day the coffin was to be sent
after dinner with the tenantry to Llandovery.

Having seen that all was safe, and the servants asleep, the
valet walked quietly off to meet the coach with its precious
burden at a pre-arranged spot; and so well were their plans
carried out as to time, that, as the valet came walking up one
way, the coachman was slowly driving along from the other

227

direction. Before many minutes had elapsed, the driver brought
the coach safely into the courtyard at Peterwell, and got his
tired team into the stable. By the light 9#"tbe moon, the valet
soon divested the deal case of its coverings and wrappings, and
thoughtfully removed the prominent labels, thus leaving the
case on the roof of the coach ready for the men to lift down, so
soon as they arrived in the morning.

Great was the astonishment of the carpenter and his gang,
when they came to their work, to find that the body had come
before it was expected. No time was lost in lowering the case,
and in taking out the shell containing the body, which was
at once carried into the arras-hung hall, from which all visitors
and spectators were excluded.

At noon, when the coffin was ready for its supposed transit to
Llandovery, it was taken instead into the hall, the unopened elm
shell reverently placed in it, and the lid firmly screwed down.
By this time the tenantry had gathered on the lawn, only to find
that the rumours they had heard as they came along the roads
to Peterwell were true, and that the body had arrived over-
night, and that, too, on Sir Herbert's own travelling coach. No
one seemed to have heard it pass their farms and houses, though,
as it turned out afterwards, the widow of Shon Philip had been
aroused from her sleep by a noise, and, looking out of her cot-
tage window, had just dimly seen the heavily-laden coach jolting
over one of the large stones which Sir Herbert had placed out-
side the hedge of Cae Shon Philip, jolting with such force as to
cause the coach and its case to totter visibly ere the horses could
right themselves.

The tenantry being outside, and naturally curious to hear and
see something, it was decided to admit them in single file, to
pass through the hall, and so see the coffin which contained all
that could die of Sir Herbert Lloyd. The steward, assisted by
the valet and coachman, soon marshalled the now numerous
retinue, which quietly and slowly began to pass through the hall
and by the coffin — in at one door, out at the other, into the large
kitchen, where ample refreshments were served. At the head of
the coffin stood the valet and coachman, carefully watching that
no one — even had he wanted — laid hands upon it. All at length
had passed through — men, women, and children — a curious pro-
cession, the last to enter being the two bailiffs, who had oft-
times served writs on Sir Herbert, with the unusual experience

228

of being made to swallow them ere they left his presence. This
time there was no living lion to fear ; they had come to do then-
last unexpected duty — that of serving a writ for debt on the
dead body, which they did by laying the well-known "bit of
blue paper" on the coffin lid, and then firmly declining to budge
from the side of the coffin. There they were, and there they
were ordered to stay and to watch, both day and night, so as to
prevent the body being removed for burial before the satisfaction
demanded on the writ was forthcoming. When one bailiff went
out for refreshments or sleep, the other remained on guard. Such
a scene as this death chamber then presented — the black coffin
with the blue paper writ on its lid, the arras-hung walls, the dim
light, the bailiffs on watch — was one worthy the caustic pen-
cilling of Hogarth !

What was to be done ? It seemed as if the valet and coach-
man had been at last outwitted, despite the unremitting care
and attention to their deceased master. Certain was it they
could not remove the body for burial, without first getting rid of
the bailiffs, nor had they any intention whatever — had it been
possible — of seeing their master's debt paid. Day after day
passed on, until the second of September had come, when it was
getting absolutely necessary that the body should be buried.
The Peterwell vault had been opened and made ready, so as to
place Sir Herbert's coffin by the side of his first wife, that
English lady, Miss Bragge, who had been buried in it on the
30th March, 1743.

The valet and coachman, with the connivance of the vicar, had
another card to play. How they successfully played it, and
in turn outwitted the two bailiffs, must now be told.

The busy heralds hang the sable scene
With mournful 'scutcheons, and dim lamps between ;
Proclaim his titles to the crowd around,
' But he that wore them moves not at the sound ;

The coronet, placed idly at his head,
Adds nothing now to the degraded dead,
And even the star, that glitters on the bier,
Can only say— Nobility lies here.

On the evening of the second of September, 1769, three men
were seated in close converse in the late Sir Herbert's room.
They talked in low tones, so as not to be overheard by the
bailiffs in the adjacent hall, though, truth to tell, both of them

229

were already under the influence of that strong cwrw for which
the Peterwell cellars were so noted. These three faithful men,
who determined, at all costs, to bury the body of Sir Herbert
Lloyd before another twenty-four hours had elapsed, were the
Rev. William Williams, vicar of Lampeter, the valet, and the
coachman — the latter of whom was mainly instrumental in car-
rying out the tactics he had devised. At that period total
abstinence — nay, moderate drinking of intoxicants — was almost
unknown, and complete heavy drunkenness, so that a man was
entirely unable to be cognisant of his surroundings for several
hours, was a matter of ordinary and unnoticed occurrence.

This being so, the coachman felt that the only plan open
to them to bury the body was freely and continuously to serve
out cwrw to the bailiffs, that they should be rendered totally in-
capable of noticing anything that went on. Moreover, there
was on the estate an aged and well-trusted retainer, who in his
younger days had been butler at Peterwell ; he knew exactly
how to drug cwrw, so as to send the drinker into a heavy
slumber, which should last for many hours. He was duly sum-
moned to appear at the mansion early on the following morning,
and there and then installed cellarer, with* strict instructions
only to serve out for the bailiffs' use the ctvrw from one certain
barrel. With a knowing wink, to the coachman, he took the
keys, and refused admission to the cellar to all comers. With
his own hand he plied the bailiffs with tankard after tankard
full; they were only too pleased with such polite attention to
their " wants," with the result that before long they had passed
through the noisy state of drunkenness to that soddened calm of
deep sleep, from which no amount of noise and clamour would
wake them for many hours. Being no longer responsible for
their actions, stalwart arms soon carried the sleeping bailiffs and
their precious " bit of blue paper " to the steward's private room,
in which they were laid on the floor on two straw palliasses,
their boots and hats removed, and the lock turned on them, the
key being safely transferred to the coachman's pocket.

Meanwhile the vicar had been making final arrangements for
the funeral, which was to take place that night, whilst the
bailiffs soundly slumbered in Peterwell. All the tenantry and
neighbours were soon acquainted with the arrangements ; from
mouth to mouth the words were carried — Every man to bring a
toich. By ten o'clock the road from Peterwell to the parish

230

church was lined, at orderly distances the one from the other,
by farmers ano} others, everyone with his torch ready to light
up at the given signal. Inside the mansion all was activity and
quiet bustle. The heavy coffin was closely guarded by ten of
the- strongest young workmen on the estate, who were to act
as bearers, and carry it out to the ancient bier which stood at
the entrance, at the foot of the steps of polished Portland stone.
As the hour of eleven struck by the clock in the hall — that
very clock which was exhibited at St. David's College in 1878,
on the occasion of the annual meeting of the Cambrian Archae-
ological Association — the coffin was slowly carried out, and
placed on the bier. What a scene ! The mansion, with its
numerous windows all closely blinded ; the flower garden on the
roof ; the artificial water on each side of the avenue, down which
the procession passed, through the rows of lighted torches ; the
surpliced vicar at the head, supported on either side by the
steward and the valet ; and the ever-increasing number of
mourners behind, as the torch bearers, two by two, quietly fell
into the ranks after the coffin had passed along.

Thus did Sir Herbert Lloyd, Baronet, leave his home for the
last time, in that still September month, 'midst nature's subtle,
signs that tell of summer bidding gentle adieu, whilst autumn,
her sadder sister, stands at the door. How still it all was ! the
warm air fragrant with many a sunny scent, the hedges clothed
with feathery corn-spurry, spreading plantains, golden-flowered
silverweed, little scarlet pimpernels, and a few blue speedwells
still flourishing along their borders, whilst the bottoms were
rank with tall grass and nettles, a few ragged-robins and St.
John's-worts, and great thistles frothing over in feathery foam.

On the procession went till it came to the Lampeter street,
crowded with men in homespun clothes and women with wintles
and tall hats, passed the spot where, but a few years before,
George Whitfield had so frequently preached— it is said that Sir
Herbert himself had induced him to come — passed the ancient
glebe house at the corner to the church, on to the lych gate,
under the walls of which issued a clear spring of living waters,
which trickled down, murmuring low, along their gravelly course
— but not before many an afflicted one had applied a bath to
their eyes, for the curative properties of "dtur llygaid" were
known to all the countryside.

Now was heard the voice of Vicar Williams beginning the

231

finest and most solemn of all the Christian offices, that for the
Burial of the Dead — " Myfi ywW adgyfodiad dr bywyd f medd yr
Arglwydd."

The old church of St. Peter, lit with candles in candelabrum
and sconces, was crowded with mourners and silent spectators,
and the service proceeded until the "committal," when the
bearers removed the coffin and placed it in the Peterwell vault
on the north side of the chancel. Here the last words were said,
and Sir Herbert's body was at length secure from further moles-
tation, where it could with impunity defy all earthly authorities
to follow it any further, for no law exists which can legalise the
exhumation of a dead bodv for debt.

All was over, the crowds of wonder-stricken folks dispersed,
and in his little vestry might be seen the vicar. Reverently
and with dignity he is raising the heavy lid of the parish chest,
wherein he kept the sacred vessels, still used in the parish
church, with the inscription,

The gift of Mrs. Lloyd of Peterwdl, 1731,

and the all-important register book. This he lifts out anjd
places open before him on the table, and on its page he inscribes
this entry of burial : —

1769, Burd. 7ber., ye 3d. Sir Herbert Lloyd, Bart.

He has preserved to posterity the all-important fact that in the
seventh month of the year (March was then reckoned as the first
month) there had been buried in his church the body of Peter-
well's master. The volume is replaced, the chest is locked, the
candle extinguished, and the vicar seeks repose.

Early on the morning after the interment the bailiffs awoke
from their drunken stupor, and, to their horror and astonish-
ment, found that the body had disappeared. Hearing in the
kitchen that the corpse had only just been taken out and re-
moved into Caermarthenshire for burial, horses were immediately
saddled, and the bailiffs sent galloping away over some of the
Caermarthenshire hills in search of the dead baronet. Too late,
too late ; in life they had feared him, and in death he had duped
them.

And now that Sir Herbert is both dead and buried, we must
obey the eternal truth in the behest, Be mortuis nil nisi bonum.
That he had some good points this story has already told. Let

232

it not go unrecorded that, when appealed to, he had subscribed
to the rebuilding of the tower of Cardigan parish church in
1740:— Herb. Lloyd, Esq., Failattt, £2 2s.

Let it also be credited to his memory that it is preserved in
legend how he went now and again to listen to the preaching of
Daniel Rowland at Llangeitho, whose trenchant words may
have brought him to see the truths of that religion, the actual
teachings of which he was not, however, prepared to put into
practice.

So fell the great house of Peterwell, as foreboded by those
who witnessed the rearing of its magnificent mansion, and as
preserved by local traditions ; for did not its walls contain the
elements of doom in the accursed stones from Maesyfelin's
detested hall ?

Nettle and ivy, weed and wall flower, rank,
Matted and massed together ; hillocks heaped
On what were chambers, and crush'd columns strewn
In fragments ; chok'd up vaults, and frescoes steep'd
In subterranean damps, where the owl peeps,
Deeming it midnight. Thus the mighty fall.

* *
*

Owing to the Lampeter parish church having been rebuilt on
a slightly altered site to that on which the old church stood, the
Peterwell vault, in which Sir Herbert Lloyd lies buried, is now
outside the walls, and not, as formerly, in the chancel. It has
been disturbed more than once since the baronet's interment.
When the old church was taken down, the vault was opened,
and some bones, it is said, were taken out, and carried in a girl's
apron, to a hiding place in the town. They were found, years
afterwards, in the loft of a house, the site of which is now
occupied by the u Castle Hotel."

More recently, too, the vault was accidentally opened when a
grave adjacent to it was being dug. By the aid of a lighted
taper let down into it, some of the coffins were distinctly visible,
the tattered black cloth with which they were originally covered
being seen fluttering below the opening.

Is Sir Herbert's body destined never to find repose 1

* *
*

This story, when first published in 1900, was the means of
bringing to. the author's notice several letters, written by Sir

233

Herbert Lloyd, Bart., M.P., in the years 1757 to 1768, and
addressed to his kinsman, John Johnes, Esq., of Dolau Cothi,
where they are still preserved, and where he recently saw and
copied them, by the kind offices and gracious permission of Mr.
Johnes's great grand-daughters, Mrs. Johnes and Lady Hills-
Johnes. Sir Herbert Lloyd evidently deemed it well to keep on
the most friendly terms with Mr. Johnes, as is proved by the
warmth of the letters. They throw much light on the doings of
Dolau Cothi and Peterwell in the middle of the eighteenth cen-
tury — dealing with election meetings, taking "the waters" at
Bath and Tunbridge Wells, and other matters. They are here
printed as copied from the originals. The first is Sir Herbert
Lloyd's version of an interview with his solicitor, which could
not have been a pleasant one for either party ; the second is the
solicitor's account of the same meeting, fortunately also pre-
served with the other papers.

Dear Sir,

I Have not Heard from Bowen yet which surprizes me
much. Mr. Skyrme Has been Here & has used me very III,
so yt. I am Determined to Have nothing to say to such a villain,
therefore beg to see you Here to-morrow on Business of Great
Consequence to me & you.

I beg to Know whether you Did talk with yr. Brother abt.
Lewis of Llanerchiroris money for I must Have 'em. More of
yt. to-morrow when I see you, which I beg you will not faill Doing
& you will ever oblige Dr. Cozen, yrs. most affectly.

Herbt. Lloyd
Peterwell

8ber 16th, 1757.
To John Johnes Esq
Dolicothy.

Llawhaden.
Dear Sir,

The Great Man of Peterwell wrote to a friend of mine to
secure him £5000 on his estate, which sum has been kept dead
two months for him, and the writings sent down to be executed ;
he now pretends that he does not want the money as he can pro-
cure it by other means.

TJie above III usage of a friend added to the discovery I made
having neither honour or honesty in him determined me to have

30

234

nothing more to say to any of his affairs, and the first III word,
he Gave me, I returned and told him he deserved to be kicked, in
which warmth we parted, being fully determined not too see him
. again.

I trouble you with this well knowing hk Scandalous Tongue,
which has already abused you and your family to me, so he may
take the same Liberty of me to you.

There was one particular he mentioned about the Agreement he
and you signed which you are the best Judge of; he pretends that
I drew him in to sign it being your friend, and not his.

ril refer it to you whether I did not Act the part of an
Impartial person, leaning to neither side more tlian what Justice
should induce me to do.

You may depend on my behaving with the greatest Justice to
your affairs.

lam, Sir,
Your most obliged Hble. Servt.,

H. Skyrme.
being not well
I am obliged to
dictate to
another.

October 17th, 1757.
To John Johnes, Esq.
Dolacothy.

Sir Herbert Lloyd was member for the Cardigan boroughs in
the first Parliament of George III., 1761 — 1768; and John Pugh
Pryse, Esq., of Gogerddan, the county member with the same
Parliament.

Two letters referring to the election of 1761 are extant
amongst those written by Sir Herbert. They show how keen
was the interest taken in the election of 1761.

Dear Sir,

I trust you wiU oblige me in Honouring me with yr*
Company at Cardigan on Friday night as Mr. Pryse* s meeting is
fixed for the following Day, the 22d, to resolve on a proper Can-
didate for the County of Cardigan at the next Election.

Mr. Johnes yr. Bror. most certainly will attend the meeting and
I hope call on you on Thursday on his way to Llanerchiron.

235

What our Resolutions are as to Elections will he much Better told
you by Mr. Johnes than by

Dear Cousin,
Yr. Affectionate as well as Devoted Kinsman,

Herbt. Lloyd.

Newtown, August [? April] 17th, 1761.
To John Johnes, Esq.

at Dolecothy.

Evidently Mr. Johnes was not able to reply to Sir Herbert's
letter so quickly as the writer expected, for a few days after he
pens the following note : —

Dear Sir,

I am extremely uneasy at not Hearing from you least you

will not be at Cardigan with me to-morrow as the Election will be

on Thursday next and Hope you will Call here & Go Down with

us tomorrow.

I am, Dear Sir,

Yrs. most affectly,

Herbert Lloyd.

Tuesday morning —

To John Johnes, Esq.

* *
*

County houses and families, such as Dolau Cothi and Peter-
well, often shared a London weekly paper between them ; hence
this allusion to the London Chronicle. The writer of the next letter,
Thomas Davies, was none other than the bookseller and news-
vendor of that name, who, in his shop in Eussell Street, Coven t
Garden, in the year 1763, had the honour of introducing Boswell
to Dr. Johnson. He was a man of good understanding and
talents, with the advantage of a liberal education. To Davies,
says Mr. Leslie Stephen, "Dr. Johnson was uniformly kind in
serious matters, and two letters written in his last illness show
his gratitude for attentions received from Davies and his wife."

To Sir Herbert Lloyd Bart

Sir
The "London Chronicle 11 which was sent to Dolecothy was
always charged to you, and paid by you. It was sent June 12,

236

1764, and continued to ye 12 December, 1765. The charge in
my books is £2 18 6.

I am Sir,
Your most Obedient

humble Servant,
London, Thomas Dairies.

Saturday, Nov. 15th, 1766.

On the same page, at the foot of this letter, Sir Herbert Lloyd
writes : —

Dear Sir,

Please to pay the above sum of £2 18 6 to Mr. Watkin
Lloyd, and this receipt will be a proper Discharge from

My Dear Sir,

Yrs. most affectly,

Herbt. Lloyd.

Sir Herbert did not enjoy the best of health in the later years
of his life ; he occasionally stayed at Tunbridge Wells or Bath,
whence he was in the habit of writing chatty,* gossiping letters
to Mr. Johnes.

Dear Sir,

Your most obliging favour Dated the 12th inst. reached
me Here and thank you most Heartily for it. Give me leave to
Congratulate yr. Lady & you on yr. Safe return to Dolicothy,
& on yr. once more Quitting a military Life, & such a one that
every thinking man that Has a Family would Dispise, & Happy
I am in the thoughts of Having you continue my neighbour, and
Let me, Dr. Jack assure you of the Desire I Have of yr. Friend-
ship and esteem ; and yt. It will always Give me Great Pleasure
to Oblige or serve you to the utmost of my power. — / have now
been Here one month, for the Benefit of my health, and I thank
God that I came Here, where I have reed, more Benefit than I can
by words express, not only to the surprize of my acquaintances
here, but to my own Great astonishment, & am now Better in
Health than I have been these Ten years Last 'past, & hope soon to
Convince you what an appetite I have as I intend soon for Wales
for a few Weeks, & will Do myself the Honour of Dining with
you in my way Home.

David Williams, the Attorney of Caermarthen (who lives with

237

me) & came very ill here 8 weeks ago is Greatly recovered & out
of Danger now & will return with me to Wales.

Mr. Morgan & Lady are likewise here at the Wells, Mr.
Morgan is Better, so that you find these waters well agree with
our Welsh Constitutions.

At last Mr. Adams Has wrote me word that he is Quitting the
Malitia, & it had been better for him had he Done it sooner, when
I so very earnestly pressed him to it. But such are my [i] Folks,
that they will do nothing but what they please. With all Due
Respects to Cozen Johnes & you.

Believe me
Most affectly. & Sincerely Yrs

Herbt. Lloyd.
Tunbridge Wells

August the 80th 1761.

The letter is addressed

To John Johnes Esq.

Dolecothy, South Wales.
Landovery Bag,

and is franked on the left hand corner, '
H. Free Lloyd —

Bath, in the middle of the eighteenth century, was a favourite
resort for invalids from South Wales ; hence it was but natural
that Sir Herbert Lloyd should betake himself there, to join the
gay and fashionable crowd, which found these waters of great service
to their complaints, real and imaginary.

Dear Sir

Yr Letter Dated ye 14th Inst, went to London, & returned
not Till yesterday which Is the reason of yr. not sooner receiving
my answer. Had you enquired at Lampeter You would Have
found that my Residence has been here near one month for the
Benefit of these waters, which have been of great service to me.

I am sorry that our friend Henry Jones Has been so Im-
prudent as to Have been Detected, However I Have loarmly
applied in his favour to the Board this day by Post, sooner I
could not as Saturday is no Post Day at Bath. I hope He will
not be served with any Process, but if he is Let Jlim send it me
here, and what the Truth of His case, for or against Himself.

238

/ Hope Cozen Johnes & Miss are well, & beg & Tender of my
most affect. Respects & believe me to be, with Great Sincerity,

Bear Sir,
Yr most obliged & Humble Servant

Herbt, Lloyd
Bath, March 23d, 1765.

Mr, Pryse & His
Mother are Here
& extremely well in Health,
How Does Poor Jack Lewis
Do, & where is he now ?

To John Johnes, Esq,
Dolicothy,

South Wales.

Llandovery Bag

H, Free Lloyd,

♦ *
•it-
Money was remitted to London from the country in 1768 by
means of bills or drafts. The custom of the time is well shown
in this letter from Sir Herbert Lloyd to Mr. Johnes. More than
usual interest attaches to it, not only from the fact that it is the
last of the series preserved at Dolau Cothi, but also that it is
more than likely to be one of, if not indeed the last written by
Sir Herbert Lloyd prior to that journey to London from which
he never returned alive. He died on the 19th August, 1769, in
London, by his own hands ; this letter, written on the 26th June,
1769, urgently desires some bank bills or drafts for cash in London,
It would certainly seem as if Sir Herbert were making pre-
parations for that last and fatal trip.

Dear Sir

You would oblige me very much if you co'd. Let me Have
Some Bank Bills or Drafts for Cash in London; faver me with
yr answer what you can spare & my nephew shall wait of you
with the Cash, with many thanks, from Dr. Sr,

Yrs Sincerely

Herbt. Lloyd,

Sunday, June 26th, 1768-9.
to John Johnes Esq.

Dolecothy.

^1 "U^ C/ 2-»/^ ^»^- ly^s*^. , &C^+^ JU^ i^

Sir Herbert Lloyd, Bart.:

Facsimile of Letter.

THE NEW YORK

PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOH, LENOX AND
TILDEN FOUNDATIONS.

239

These letters seem to bring Sir Herbert Lloyd's personality
home to us, and give an appropriate ending to these chapters.

Sir Herbert Lloyd does not seem so long a time dead and
buried, when it is remembered that my father, who died in
1902, aged ninety years, had himself conversed with men who
knew Sir Herbert, and who witnessed his funeral. From the
lips of one of these old men, my father, in his youth, heard the
Short Briish Coch incident.

Needless to say, I have availed myself of the data learnedly
set forth in "Some Old Families in the Neighbourhood of Lam-
peter," which the Eev. William Edmunds so accurately laid
before the Cambrian Archaeological Association in 1859. Would
that a larger number of educated men in the county to-day set
themselves to follow his example, and so preserve to posterity
matters of supreme interest, which, unless recorded, must of
necessity eventually pass away and be lost.

CENTURIES XII. — XVII.

The following items are taken largely from the State Papers
(Domestic), the Patent Rolls, and the Close Rolls ; having been
collected whilst the foregoing pages were at press.

1187.

Owain Gwynedd destroyed the castle of Pont Stephen, which
the king had built.

1188.

Visit of Giraldus Cambrensis and Archbishop Baldwin.

1284, ,

18 Edward L

Grant of market to Rhys ap Meredith, on Thursday weekly,
and a fair of three days on vigil, the day, and the morrow of
St. Dionysius Martyr.

1309.

2 Edward II. , 17th May, Westminster,

Grant during pleasure to Rees ap Gryffyth, king's yeoman, of
whatever the king holds in the towns of Thanbeder Talbond-
steven, Trevillan, and Suylen, subjected to the usual yearly
payment into the Exchequer at Kermardyn.

1317.

10 Edward II.

Inquest made before Maurice de Berkeley, Justiciar of South
Wales, at Lamp, de Talpont Stephen, Thursday after St. David,
by oaths of Dd. ap Griffith Voil, Philip ap Meilir, Meredith ap
Oweyn ap Morgan, Llewellin Duy, Griffith ap Dd. ap Seisild,
Llwn. ap Morgan, Ienk. ap Iankin, Ievan Seys, Ievan ap Willira,
Jevon ap Kenewric, John Goh, and Ievan Burseys, who say that
Ris ap Meredith, before the conquest of Wales, held the whole
comot of Mabwynion, and within certain limits of it he ordained
a burg at Lampeder Talpont Stephen, and to said burg assigned

241

all lands within certain bounds which contain two lencors in
circuit. And that within these bounds Eis ap Meredith ordained
certain custos on one part of burg lands, which custos and bur-
gesses hold all their lands and tenements within the bounds
withoutt impediment of Ris ap Meredith, who made forfeiture
through which the said tenement together with other of Ris
came as escheat in hand of the lord Edward, formerly king of
England, father of present king.

They say also that Ris ap Griffith holds certain tenements at
will by demise of the now lord % king, rendering yearly at Ex-
chequer of Carmarthen £10. . . . There are in the said burg
23 burgesses who hold 26 burg and render yearly 26 shillings ;
and said burgesses hold 119 \ acres land without rent, . . . and
they said there is there a fair at St. Dyonis worth 60 shillings.

1328.

1 Edward III., 15th February , Weatmiwter.

Commission of oyer and terminer to Roger de Mortuo Mari
and others, on complaints as contained in petition sent herewith
by men of the commonality of Lampader of oppression by
wardens, sheriffs, constables, chamberlains, and other bailiffs and
ministers of the late king.

1330.

4 Edward III., 6th AiiQUfit, Kingscliffe.

Grant in fee simple, to Edmund Hakelut, of the town of Lam-
pader talaponte Stevene, in South Wales, which has escheated to
the king by forfeiture of Resus ap Griffith, who held it by grant
for life, of Edward II.

1357.

30 Edward III., 20th January, London.

John de Henxteworth, yeoman to Edward, prince of Wales,
granted " for life the lands called Lampader Talepount Stevene,
in Wales, escheated to the said prince, reserving the knights'
fees, advowsons of churches, wardships, marriages, forfeiture,
and escheats."

1366.

39 Edward III., 24th September, Kermerdyn.

John de Henxteworth, by letters patent, granted for life " the
office of the constable of the commot of Kayo, in Cantresmawr."

31

242
1379.

2 Richard II. 9 10th March, Westminster.

Inspeximus and confirmation to John de Henxteworth of
grants of 1357 and 1366.

1405.

Castle surrendered to Henry, Prince of Wales.

1535.

Morgan Vaughan, vicar.

1573.

Thomas Griffith, of Maesyfelin, Esquire, served High Sheriff
of county.

1616.

David Evans, " propositor of Llanbeder."

1644.

Sir Thomas Middleton, Knight, Sergeant Major General for
the six counties of North Wales, met his foot forces at Lampeter
Pont Stephen under command of Sergeant Major General Lang-
horne, in November, on their march from Pembrokeshire througn
Cardiganshire to Montgomeryshire.

1645.

Thomas Evans, of Peterwell, Esquire, in January, "mustered
the inhabitants at Llanbeder, co. Cardigan, and charged them to
be ready to assist the King [Charles LJ against Parliament; in
June,- 1645, he went with Colonel Gerard into counties Carmar-
then and Cardigan against co. Pembroke, that had declared for
Parliament."

1648.

Puritan nomination, on 7th July, of institution of "Reeves
Meredith to Llamder."

1653.

Thomas Evans, of Peterwell, Esquire, served High Sheriff.

1654.

" Church of Christ gathered in Cardiganshire. Lampeter, 4th
March ; Rees Powel, pastor."

243

1672.
House of Evan David licensed for worship.

1600.

Sir Charles Lloyd, of Maesyfelin, Knight, served High Sheriff.

1602.

Daniel Evans, of Peterwell, Esquire, served High Sheriff.

1605.

Beginning of parish registers.

Jtctes.

As this book has been going through the press, the following
items have accumulated, and are here placed on permanent
record.

Richard Hart Davies (p. 43). His portrait was painted by
Sir Thomas Lawrence, P.R.A., and engraved by Richard Wood-
man. A framed copy hangs in the library at Cilbronnau, where
I saw it on the 28th June, 1905. It bears the inscription : —

RICHARD HART DAVIES, Esq.,

The faithful Representative of his Fellow Citizens of Bristol in

Six Successive Parliaments, and the firm supporter of the

Constitution in Church and State. Aug., 1830.

Eliezer Williams (p. 119). No portrait of the vicar seems
to be forthcoming. Dr. Peter Williams, of Ferryside, co. Caer-
marthen — a great-grandson of the Eev. Peter Williams, father of
Eliezer Williams— told me, when visiting him lately, that he
knew of none ; and this has since been confirmed by his brother,
the Rev. D. L. Williams, M.A., vicar of Llanwnda, co. Caer-
narvon, who, writing on the 3rd August, 1905, says : —

/ am not aware of the existence of any portrait of the late
Eliezer Williams, but am icriting to enquire of the widow of his
son, the late St. Geo. Armstrong Williams, whether she knows of
any portrait of his father.

"Daniel Ddu" (p. 132). A third silver medal is in the
possession of his niece, Mrs. Jenkins, Dolwern, near Lampeter,
who has kindly sent it to me for inspection. It bears the in-
scription : —

Cymmrodorion Brycheiniog

idd y

Parch. Daniel Evans, M.A.

Am ei Avodl % Dy Trtdegyr

HU Ivor Hael

Am noddi Beirdd Cymru.

1823.

245

The following letter was written by Daniel Ddu to his nephew,
the Rev. David Evans (p. 132). The original, now before me, is
owned by Mr. Evan Jenkins, Faversham, a great-nephew to
Daniel Ddu> —

Maesnewydd,

Nr. Lampeter,

IS June, 1843.
Dear David

I have received from Dr. Lewellin a satisfactory reply.
He says that he had repeatedly asked you in the most friendly
manner to apply again for the College Testimonials which you
were not furnished with when you left College. You, were ex-
ceedingly wrong in not taking the Dr.'s advice, and you were more
wrong still in concealing from me that there was any obstacle
to your getting your College Testimonials. Had I known that
there existed any stubbornness on your part to submit to your
Tutors I would not have moved a peg in your behalf. You will
be allowed to apply for your Testimonials at St. David's College if
you have not succeeded without them, but the best plan for your
reputation and to the chance of succeeding in life would have been
to take the course advised by the College authorities. If you were
in a stand in questions of Theology as I understand from your
letter to Mr. Morgan was the case you could not expect Testi-
monials whatever your qualifications might have been as regard
Classics. In my time at Oxford a single failure in the Greek
Testament would have instantly plucked a person who had pre-
sented a sufficient number of heathen authors to entitle him to a
first class.

I am,

Dear David,

Yours most truly,

D. Evans.

We expect to hear something of you by this day's post.

The altar-tomb (p. 138) of Davis, Castell Hywel, was placed
over his grave, in 1828, by Major Evans (p. 41), of Highmead,
who asked Daniel Ddu to compose a stanza or two to be included
in the inscription. The reply was as follows : the original letter,
now before me, is in the muniment room at Highmead : —

246

Maesmynach, 22 May, 1828.
Dear Sir,

I did not think it necessary on tlie receipt of your note to
reply that it would give me pleasure to comply with your desire.

I have taken all the pains in my power to write the epitaph (?)
in an intelligible language, in a Bardic metre. The stanzas may
be translated somewhat in this manner : —

Cheat is the multitude thai he, the pillar of literature, reared
in the paths of science: Pleasure and menial nourishment were
derivable from the store of his toil and learning. To cultivate fair
virtue and piety was his constant aim, in the peace of God and of
his fellow men.

It is at your option whether to use the two stanzas or one of them.
I am very glad that this honour is conferred on the old gentle-
man.

I am, Dear Sir,

Yowrs respectfully,

Daniel Evans.
Major Evans, Highmead.

Dwys gododd mewn dysgeidiaeth — do, lawer,
Da lywydd gwybodaeth :
Llawenydd coed, a lluniaeth,
O ddienffrwd ei ddawn jfraeth.

eigion colon coledd — daioni
A dinafrinwedd
Oedd eifryd o hyd yn hedd
Ei Naf, a gwir dangnefedd.

A copy of his "Gwinllan y Bardd" (p. 139), in the original
binding, is in the library at Cilbronnau, where I saw it on the
28th June, 1905. It is printed on paper of divers colours, and
is in good preservation.

D. Silvan Evans (p. 177). For "M.A." read "B.D." (of
St. David's College, 1868).

Neuadd Fawr Burial Ground (p. 179, last line). After
the words " The address at the grave " insert " at the burying of
the body of Thomas Hugh Eice Hughes (d. 1902)."

247

The PARISH Communion Plate (p. 231). On the 14th Apri^
1905, I examined these silver vessels in the vestry of the parish
church. The cup, with paten cover on, is 10£ inches tall ; the
cup alone is 9 inches tall ; bell, stem, knop, and circular foot ;
on bell the sacred monogram, surrounded by a glory; with
inscription —

The gift of Mrs. Lloyd of Peterwell, 1751,

The paten cover is 5£ inches in diameter, having similar design
and inscription in centre, with the design repeated on top of
knob. One plate, soup shape, 9£ inches in diameter, plain, with
similar design and inscription in centre. One flagon, 13 inches
tall ; lid, handle, no spout, similar design and inscription in
centre. All four articles bear London assav of 1751-52, and
maker's mark, W.6.

Parish Registers (p. 243). These are being printed in the
Welsh Gazette, beginning with its issue of the 17th September,
1903: so far, all entries of baptisms and burials, from the 11th
May, 1695, to the 4th March, 1734, have been committed to the
safe custody of the press. The transcript used is that made
from the original by Mr. John Davies, of Lampeter. It is
probable that this is the first Welsh parish register thus to be
treated by a weekly newspaper.

Lampeter History. In addition to the works named on
pp. 7, 8, mention must be made of "Antiquarian Rambles," re-
printed from " The Cambrian Journal," March, 1857. " Lampeter
Pont Stephen and its Neighbourhood " is dealt with in Ramble
No. i. by Lluoyd <tr Lfon, who has much to say about " Castell
Llanbedr," "Sara Helen," " Llanvechan," " Crug-y-whyl," and
" Caer Forus." In St. David's College and School Magazine, June,
1903, appeared a "List of the first 200 Students at the College";
and in June, 1904, a "List of Old Students, 1836—1841."

Pontfaen Stone. Under the overhanging eaves of the lodge
at the entrance to Falcondale, and facing the road, at the base of

248

the hill, leading to Cribyn, is a huge monolith, with a " Pater
noster " cross carved upon one of its faces : —

CO

o

8 inches

Writing to me about it, from Blaise Castle, Henbury, on the
12th September, 1904, Miss Harford says: —

The Pontfaen stone had been used as a gate-post on that farm ;
it was about the year 1890 when we saw it lying by the road side,
and my brother at once consented to shelter it under the cottage
eaves, where it would be visible to passers by. Archdeacon Ed-
mondes was Principal at that time [1889 — 1892], he was very
interested in it I wrote to the editor of " Archceologia Cam-
brensis" about it, and he told me it was a Paternoster stone.
There was formerly a large stone of that shape used as a foot-
bridge over the Croiddyn, when I was a child, just above Falcon-
dale, where there is now a bridge over the ford on the road from
Silian to Maestir. The bridge was made in our absence, and I
never heard what became of the great stone, that reached from
bank to bank.

A rubbing of this cross is in my collection.

* *
*

Reader, now for a while I "sport my oak," and to it this
notice is affixed —

SED
NONDUM EST

FINIS.

M» -.

i

« *'.

24*

• : i'.»yn, is a huge monolith, with a '" i\«
! r jm>ii one of its faces : —

8 inches

n *>*

Writing r.« ?:- nhotit it, from Blaise Castle, Henhury, oil "
12th Septo -,!»:■? liKU, Mi*s Harford says: —

77>. /'""//" ;i <*<me had been used as a gatt-post on tfait fa . >.
if. *r\> '//.• •/.* •'.< ynr lSf*0 wlien we saw it lying by the road s\
V /'. r ni (»:<> xmsenkd to shelter it under ilw cottw
'/-i »/ •!.,"/ 6' y visible to passers by. Archdeacon Ji
'•- ! K !'<iuil at that tint? [1889 — 1892], he was «,
;'/,' <•'. / v/tf/c fo thr editur of Ci A i chwologia Con
■• // ..', •<«'/ /<'' told me it was a Paterooskr st»n*
■i.-*« rr *.,.",>•/// u /an/* s/ow* f/ /Aa/ *Aajw m>W a.< ^ /^ '-
:/ ■ •".<.;<idi/n, when I was a child \ just about Fa Iron
."i . •* '•'•'/-' f .<* flow- a bHdfje over the ford on the road f rot >
u \t tl . V V The bridge was made in tmr absence, a. hi I
•/ • ./ '// fn-eame uf the great stone, that reached fn-n*

,!.

•\

• * »» ..

«hi.- cn^s is in mv collection.

u

+ *
*

.. . >'^ for a while I "sport my oak/* and to it thiV

:*!*' *ed —

SED
NONDUM EST

FINIS.

THE NEW YORK

PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOH, LENOX AND
TILDEN FOUNDATIONS.

INDEX.

Names appearing only in entries quoted for other purposes are not indexed. Compilers of
Welsh indexes will know the difficulty of distinguishing between many persons of the same
name : still it is hoped this index may be of service to tJtose who use it.

»»

»»

»»

Adams, J., 51, 68, 102, 194, 237
Alun (see Black well, J.)
Amnon (see Jones, Rees)
Arnold, Dr., 72, 142
Aston, R., 26, 32
Atterbury, M., 116

Bailey, Lady, 103

Baldwin, Archbishop, 56, 192, 240

Bankes-Price, D., 3

Banks, R. W., 8, 56

Banks-Jenkinson, Bishop, 147-8

Barker, J. C, 61

J. H., 61

T. W., 61, 63, 129

W. H., 61, 112
Basil-Jones, Bishop, 8, 48, 56
Bates, Dr., 108
Beale, C. H., 106
Beasley, T. E., 122
Belsham, T., 112
Bethell, Bishop, 148
Beynon, Archdeacon, 133-4, 139,

v 158, 183, 190
Bigot, M. de, 124
„ R. de, 124
Bishop, G., 36
Blackwell, J., 183
Booth, J., 45
Boswell, J., 235
Bowen, Daniel, 44, 59, 114

David, 37

T., 40, 51

Rev. T., 120-3

32

if

»»

»»

>»
>»
»»
»»

Bragge, Miss, 196, 228
Brigstocke, W., 51
Brookes, J., 51
Browne, A., 162

A., Sir, 161

Bishop, 72, 161-5

C. G„ 165

E. D., 165

E. M., 165

Mrs., 162-5
Brutus (see Owen, David)
Bulkley, C, 109
Bunsen, Baron, 44, 72, 170
„ H. G., 72
„ M. C. E., 44
Burgess, Bishop, 2, 4, 61, 89, 99,
111, 112, 142, 146, 169
Burke, E., 104

Cadell, R., 143
Calamy, E., Dr., 64, 156, 175
Canning, 161
Carey, Bishop, 148
Carlisle, N., 7, 118
Carlyon, E., 161
Carpenter, L., 112
Chatterton, 220
Clagget, Bishop, 67
Clough, A. B., 154-5, 157
Clyn Adda (see Jones, D. L.)
Cobbe, F. P., 173
Colby, J., 41
„ T., 41
Cole, — , 81

250

Cole, J., 81
Colenso, Bishop, 173
Colquhoun-Grant, J. E., 147

W., 147
Coplestone, Bishop, 148
Corrie, J., 121
Cotesworth, E., 170
Crespigny, Sarah, de Lady, 3

W., de Sir, 3
Cunllo (see Jones, John)
Cymro (see Thomas, T. )

Dafydd Ionawr, 190
Dafydd y Oof (see Davies, David) .
Daniel, — , Cwrt Mawr, 144
„ David, 33
„ H., 29, 144, 146
Daniel Ddu (see Evans, Daniel)
Daniel Oloff (see Williams, Daniel)
Davenport, T. M., 129
Davey, Dean, 8
David, E., Lampeter, 85, 243
Davies, B., 48

Daniel, Blaokbush, 125
Daniel, Ynysgau, 79
David, 48
80
87

Llanybri, 83, 125
,, ,, Maespwll, 54

,, ,, Sardis, 157

„ D. M., 189
„ D. P., 126
„ E., 109
,, Elizabeth, 80
,, ,, Maespwll, 126,

128

if

it

it
it
11
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I)

it
a
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tt
a
tt
a

11
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tt
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it

Evan, 16, 21

,, Caeronen, 126
,, Caermarthen, 80, 106
„ Cilgwyn, 54, 74-7, 79,

120
,, Llanedi, 79
H., 103

Jane, Bailiau, 80
James, Abermeurig, 77, 79
Jenkin, 35, 38
75

Mrs., 75
John, 246
„ Alltblaca, 3, 83

a
a

Davies, John, Alltblaca, 189

,, Llanvaughan, 40, 51
„ Neath, 175, 181-2
Jonathan, 80
Joseph, 38
J. H., 26, 62
Louisa, 43
Mary, 80
Mrs., 96
Owen, 77
Rachel, 80
Rees, 48
,, Capel-y-Groes, 132
,, Peterwell, 14
Reuben, 184
Roderick, 64

R. H., 30, 43, 102-3, 218,

244
Samuel, 48
Sarah, 80

,, Blackbush, 125
Simon, 14
Thomas, 63, 67
„ Dole, 16
,, London, 235
Timothy, Aberduar, 176

Caeronen, 39, 41,
73, 76-9, 106
Cellan, 175, 181
Merthyr, 185
Walter, Maespwll, 80, 126
„ Mansion, 89, 133,
135, 137, 139, 157
William, 24
60

Ffrwdval, 127, 177
,, Trebannau, 44, 73

W. E., 54
Davies-Evans, H., 41
Davis, B., Evesham, 121
David, 126

„ Castell Hywel, 2, 40
78, 118, 120-1, 131, 138-9,
140-2, 176, 180-2, 187, 245
Timothy, Evesham, 121, 132
„ Oldbury, 126, 132,

180

Dawkes, H., 48
David ap Griffith Voil, 240
Delahoid, H., 41
Dewi Farfog (see Williams, David)

»>

it
a
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ti
a
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ii
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ii
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ii
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ti

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ii
ii

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a

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ti

it

251

Dewi Hefln (see Thomas, David)

Evans, Erasmus, 63-4

Dewi Wyn, 181

,, Esau, 2, 172

Dundas, E., 44

„ Evan, 87

„ E., Lady, 44

„ ,, Chepstow, 58

,, Major-General, 44

,, ,, Ieuan Brydydd Hir t

Dyer, F., 33, 38

116, 190

„ John, LL.B., 38

,, Herbert, 41

, , AC. , do

„ Major, 41, 43, 83,

,, K. A., »x>

245

i)j(/WV7, 133

„ John, 20

Dysgybl, 137

,, 41
,, ,, Abermeurig, 88

^&e» /Wd, 188-9

,, ,, Caermarthen, 126

Edgeworth, Miss, 144

,, ,, Cellan, 74

Edmondes, Archdeacon, 248

,, „ Llanarth, 40

C. G., 174.

,, Mary, 146

Edmunds, C, 12, 14, 19, 20,

24,

„ Nathaniel, 176

58-9, 69,

112

,, Rees, 19

,, T., 48.

,, Roderick, 48

W., 7, 8, 66, 189—

191,

,, Sarah, 129

239

„ Theophilus, 191

,, W., Sheerness, 44

„ Thomas, 20, 24

Edwardes, A., 77

,, ,, Caermarthen, 78

David, 75, 77-8

,, ,, Caeronen, 73, 175-8

„ Dr., 77

,, ,, Llanilar, 146

J., 40, 77

,, ,, Llanwnen, 40

P., 77

„ „ Peterwell, 193, 242

Edwards, Joseph, 149

,, ,, Ystrad, 64

Evans, A. C, 126

„ Titus, 128, 131

,, Daniel, 12, 18, 23, 69

„ „ Mrs., 128, 131

„ „ Cribyn, 54

„ T. M., 188

,, „ Daniel Ddu, 2,

100,

„ T. W., 48

116-7, 119, 129—137,

176,

„ W., 129

178, 181, 183-4, 187,

189,

„ W. J., 4, 40, 63, 75, 128

244,

246

„ Daniel, Peterwell, 194, 243

Felix, H., 190

„ David, 13

Ferrar, N., 108

„ 188

Fletcher, M., 107

,, ,, Cribyn, 54

W. G. D., 107

„ 132,245

Fossett, Mrs., 159

,, ,, Falcondale 44, <

*7

,, ,, Llechwedd Deri,

193

Galloway, Earl of, 111

,, ,, Maesmeillion, 54, 81

Garrick, David, 103-5

,, ,, Maesmynach, 129

,, Mrs., 105

Peterwell, 64, 193

Gerard, Colonel, 242

„ " propositor," 242

Giraldus Cambrensis, 56, 240

„ D. L., 1, 40, 131, 160,

168,

Gladstone, W. E., 161

171-2, 186-7,

239

Gomer (see Harries, J. )

„ D. R., 188 .

Gough, Miss, 131

„ D. Silvan, 177, 188, 246

Gower, A., 66

„ Elizabeth, 194

„ Dr., 24

252

Green, J. R., 7
Gray, T., 86

Griffith ap David ap Seisild, 240
Griffith, David, 9, 10
Evan, 76
G.,84
John, 19
R.,78
T., 242
Griffiths, David, 182
G., 182
S., 121
T., 182

T. J., Tan Gimel, 44, 54,
81, 84, 132, 182, 184
W. M., 182
Grote, J., 161
OwaJUter Mechain (see Davies, W.,

Mansion)
Owilym Oioenog (see Jenkins, W. )
OwUym Mai (see Thomas, William)
Gwilym Padam, 135
Gwyn, D. L., 74
„ J. B., 157
Gwynne, A. T. T., 116
H.,39
S.,39

»»

»»

11

11

11

11
11
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it

11

11
>»
11
11
11

Hakelut, £., 241
Hall, B. Sir, 148-9
Hamilton, Bishop, 171-2

Lady, 61
Hanmer, J., 74
Harford, A. G., 44
A. M., 248
J. B., 44, 48, 170
J. C, 26, 29, 203
J. S., 43, 50, 91, 158
Mrs., 29, 48, 170
Harries, D. L., 44
„ G., 40
„ G. A., 115, 154
„ J., 112
,, J., Gomer, 180
„ S., 80
Hassall, T., 115-6
Hawker, T. 41
Henxteworth, J, de, 241-2
Herbert, D. W., 70
G., 108
M., 194

i*

>»

>»
>»

11
91
11
11

19
11

Herbert, W., 193
Hickin, J.. 122
Horsley, Bishop, 120
Howatt, A., 40
E.,40
J., 21, 40
Howell, B., 107
„ J., 107
„ M., 64, 74-5, 85
„ W., 106

„ W., Swansea, 106, 121
Howells, J., 133
,, a., 39
Hughes, David, 73

Evan, 73-4, 84-5
H., 101
J., 29
S., 85-6
T., 44
T. J., 87

T. H. R., 87, 180, 246
Hunter, J., 159
Hyde, — , 81

Ienk. ap Iankin, 240

Ieuan Brydydd Hir (see Evans,

Evan)
Ievan ap Willim, 240

,, Burseys, 240

„ Seys, 240
Ieuan Ddu, 180

loan ap loan (see Williams, J. )
Iolo Bach Glan Teifi (see Williams,

Edward)
Iolo Morganwg (see Williams, Ed. )
Isaac, D. L., 7, 247

,, T.,23
Ivon (see Jones, John)
Iwan (see Williams, David)

Jayne, Bishop, 46, 165
Jeffreys, D., 145
Jenkin, G., 34

J. L., 64, 193
M. 64

Jenkins, David, 12, 20, 24

43
86

Crug-y-maen, 76
D. D., 24, 40
D. J., 60

ii

ii

ii
ii
a
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ii
ii

253

Jenkins, D. Joel, 110, 117 '

Johnson, Dr., 235

99

Evan, 18, 102 •

Jones,

Daniel, Caron, 38

99

,, Faversham, 245

„ St. David's, 46, 64

99

Griffith, 95

David, Birmingham, 121

1 "

„ Cilbronnau, 43, 47

,, Captain, 78

„ Dole wolf, 40, 176

f
i

>>

J., 48

i

J., Kerry, 92, 94-6, 101,

„ Llanbadarn Fawr, 74,

134-5

75, 85, 175

>*

Margaret, 117

„ Mercer, 24

99

Morgan, 110

„ Walsall, 122

99

Mrs., Cribyn, 129, 132-3,

D. L., 83, 126, 133

140

Edward, 87

jt

Mrs., Dolwern, 244

Evan, Newport, 187

99

P., 156

E. 0., 126

»»

R., 66

Henry, 23, 28, 51, 53-4

99

R. D., 29, 43

Jenkin, Cilgwyn, 77-9

»»

T., Rhydypennau, 139

,, Llwynrhydowen, 77
John, Aberdar, 132, 180-1,

99

T., Whitchurch, Salop, 121

99

W., 188

188

Jeremie, James, 124

„ Bewdley, 121

»»

James, Jr., 124

„ CuiUlo, 187

9)

John, 124

,, Ivan, 183

»»

J. A., 124

„ Lampeter, 86, 181

Jeremy, A., 44, 182

„ Llwynrhys, 77-8

»»

David, 124

,, Olmarchisaf, 83

>»

D. D., 88, 125, 127-8

„ Shephill, 4

>»

G., 126

„ Tegld, 131, 154

»>

H., 126

Kilsby, 2

>>

John, 54, 81, 125-8, 131,

Mrs., Cwmere, 132

152, 157

N., 122

»»

,, Moorlinch, 125

Professor, 4

>»

Rachel, 128

Rees, Amnon, 131, 185

»>

Sarah, 128

ReesC, 54, 81, 87

)}

T., 44, 182

„ J., 41, 175, 180-1, 184,

9)

W., 125

186

9)

W. D., 75, 84, 128

Samuel, 78

Jermy, I., 124

Sarah, 79

99

I. J., 124

Theophilus, 91

99

John, Sir, 124

„ Mrs., 90

99

Thomas, Sir, 124

Thomas, 29, 41

99

W., 124

„ Neuadd Fawr, 16,

Jessopp, A., 173

23, 44, 179

Jevon

ap Kenewric, 240

T. H., 179-80

John,

Daniel, 18

W., 16

99

Evan, 176

Joseph, Catherine, 176

John Goh, 240

9)

David, 24

Johnes, E. Hills-, Lady, 39, 233

99

P., 54, 182

9 9

John, 39, 51, 233

Jowett, Benjamin, 72

99

Mrs., 39, 233

99

Thomas, 38

Kean,

C, 161

>»

„ 38-9, 51-2

Keate

, Dr., 161

254

Kempenfelt, Admiral, 111
Kitchin, Dean, 162, 164
Knight, E., 38
R., 38

»»

»»
»»
»»

ii
ii
ii
»»

ii

ii

Lamb, Charles, 104
Langhorne, General, 242
Lawrenoe, T., Sir, 244
Leigh, Bridget, 25, 57

Charlotte, 25

Chelton, 12, 15, 17, 25, 60, 69

David, 25, 57

George, 25

Jemima, 25, 57

John, 24-5, 61
„ Jr., 25, 61

Oakley, 25, 34, 37, 40, 51-2,
57, 61, 68, 102, 204

Thomas, 25

Watkin, 25, 44
Leonidas, 133

Lewellin, Dean, 29, 46, 64, 70, 72,
89, 90, 93-4, 100, 113, 138,
158, 161-2, 164, 168, 178,

188, 245
Llewellin Duy, 240
Lewes, Erasmus, 22, 57, 63-5, 72, 106

John, Caermarthen, 197
,, Gernos, 65

Lettis, „ 66

Thomas, ,, 65
Lewis, Anne, 41

David, 190

Evan, 75, 83-4

Evan William, 40

James, 76

JenkiD, Dr., 125

John, Llanerchayron, 39
„ Pencader, 77

Thomas, 51

Watkin, Sir, 41
Llewelyn ap Gryffydd, 138
Lloyd, Ann, 39

Anne, Lady, 60, 196, 247

Attorney, 13

Bishop, 8, 58, 64

Charles, Dr., 42, 198
Sir, 243

91
11
11
11

11
11
11
11
11
11
11
11
11

11
11
11
11

•t

ii

„ Daniel, 41

„ David, Alltyrodyn, 41, 54, 60

>» ii

do.

41, 53

»»

ii

ii

ii

ii

Lloyd, David, Bryn, 46, 48

„ Brynberian, 77
„ Brynllevrith, 42, 77-8,

196, 198
„ Dr., Caermarthen, 42,

197
„ Lampeter, 41
,, Lloyd Jack, 51
„ Edmund, 41
„ Elizabeth, Peterwell, 68
„ „ Rhydybont, 41

„ Herbert, 14, 21

Sir, 31-4, 36-9, 42,
51, 53, 60, 68, 102, 193—239
„ Jeremiah, 34-5, 38, 51-2
,, John, LLanarth, 40
„ „ Peterwell, 51, 57, 194

„ Letitia, 73
,, Lettice, 65

„ L. C, Sir, 29, 36, 50-1, 194-5
,, Posthumus, 197
,, Richard, 51
„ Thomas, Bryn, 29, 48
,, • ,. Treasurer, 65

„ Walter, 39, 50-1, 57, 194
„ Watkin, 40
Lloyde, Richard, 27
LI wd. ap Morgan, 240
Llwyd, Edward, 67
Llwyd o'r Han (see Isaac, D. L.)
Lly march, 133
Lockhart, J. G„ 142, 144
Loxdale, R. J. R., 133
Loyd, Lewis, 121
Lushington, Dr., 172

Mackenzie, W. F., 144
Mackonochie, A. EL, 220
Madog, Prince, 109
Magee, Archbishop, 109
Martineau, Dr., 173-4
Matthews, J., 173
Maurice de Berkeley, 240

,, Benjamin, 121

,, Henry, 85

„ Philip, 44
Meredith ap Oweyn, 240
Meredith, Reeves, 242

S. R., Sir, 7, 102, 197
Middleton, Thomas, Sir, 242
Miller, W. H., 116

255

»»
»>
»»
»»
»>
»»

Mills, Nicholas, 50
More, Hannah, 116
Moore, Thomas, 48
Morgan, David, 140

Ebenezer, 86

Jenkin, 9, 10

John, 28-9, 31

Moses, 39, 60

Thomas, 31

„ Henllan, 77
Morris, Lewis, 39
Moras, Ben, 175, 207
Moses, D. L., 187, 189
Mozley, J. B., 174
Murray, Bishop, 61
Myers, Edward, 122

Nelson, Lord, 61, 177
Nicholas, Pope, 56
North, Archdeacon, 71

Ollivant, Bishop, 89-90, 93-4, 124,

166
Overstone, Baron, 121
Owain Gwynedd, 240
Owen, Bishop, 128

David, 183

Henry, Dr., 41

Hugh, 41

William, Sir, 41

>»

»»

»»

»>

Palmer, H., 76
Parry, John, 39

,, Thomas, 41
Paul, Kegan, 174
Paynter, John, 39, 51
Perowne, Canon, 171
Perrott, Thomas, 79
Peter, David, 125-6
Philip ap Meilir, 240
Philipps, Elizabeth, 68
Phillip, David„35
Phillips, Thomas, 169
Phillipps, John, 57, 63, 67-8

„ „ Jr., 67-8

,, J. L., 63, 68
Pilkington, Robert, 28
Poole, Richard, 44
Powell, Anne, 196

George Eyre, 111, 177
Rice, 634, 84-5, 242

j»

>»

Powell, Thomas, 27, 194
,, Vavasor, 73
„ William, 196
Pratt, — , 103
Price, Arthur, 177
James, 26
John, 41
Justina, 41
William, 47
Priestley, Dr., 2, 112, 121
Pritchard, Vicar, 186
Pryse, Henry, 41
„ J. P., 38, 234
,, Mary, 41
„ Pryse, 44, 139
Pugh, Madam, 39, 80

Philip, Cilgwyn, 39, 75-9, 81-2

,, Clun march, 39
W. 0., Dr., 134, 137, 158
Pusey, Dr., 173

Reed, Canon, 190
Rees, Abraham, Dr., 123
,, Ann, 151

David, Tonn, 126, 151
„ do., 151, 156
D. J., 75
„ D. R. , 90, 99, 1 13-4, 142, 144-5,

151-2, 157
„ John, 41
„ Mary, 151

Rice, 2, 29, 89—98, 111-6,
126-7, 143-5, 151-60, 184
R. D., 14
R. 0., 190
„ Sarah, 113, 157

„ Tonn, 151, 156
„ Theophilus, 126, 157
„ Thomas, 40
„ T. A., 160
„ W, 152, 157

„ W. J., 89-90, 92, 97, 99—101,

113, 145, 151—153
Reuben Brydydd y Coed (see Williams

Reuben)
Rhydderch, John, 66
Rhys ap Gryffyth, 56, 240-1

„ ap Meredith, 240-1
Richard, Edward, 134
Roberts, David, 65

Griffith, 126

»»

»»

>»

»»

256

Roberts, Thomas, 48
Robertson, Frederick, 147
Robinson, H. Crabbe, 173
Roger de Mortuo Mari, 241
Rogers, Jane, 142
„ John, Dr., 77

J. E., 40, 77, 129
Lewis, 64, 77, 142
„ Mrs., 77
Rowland, Daniel, 39, 86, 232
„ Evan, 42

Nathaniel, 42, 86
Rowlands, John, 79

William, 67
Rush, J. B., 124

»»

ii

it
ii

ii

Samuel, Christmas, 76
Sandys, William, 62
Saunders, David, 38

Merthyr, 44, 117,
176, 183

Joshua, 5

Miss, 5, 200

Thomas, 20

William, 183
Soott, Charles, 89, 143-5
„ Walter, 143

Sir, 89, 142-7
Selwyn, Bishop, 161
Seyes, David, 76
Sharpe, Gregory, 107
Shon Britsh Coch, 214, 239
ShonPMip, 31, 193,203
Silvan Evans, I)., 177, 188, 246
Skyrme, H., 233-4
Smallwell, Bishop, 4
Smith, Colvin, 149
,, George, 100
Southey, Robert, 109
Spurrell, Walter, 63
Stedman, Richard, 196
Stephen, Leslie, 235
Stephens, Thomas, 181
Stewart, Keith, 111
Stuart, Bishop, 61
Surtee8, Villiers, 144

Tait, Archbishop, -147
Tcdiesin Graig-y-fdin, 177
Tau Gimel (see Griffiths, T. J.)
Tegid (see Jones, John)

Temple, Archbishop, 174
Tenison, Arohbishop, 108
Terrill, Edward, 85
Theakstone, Mrs. L. Lloyd, 197
Thirlwall, Bishop, 70, 148, 165, 167,

190
Thomas, Ann, 77

Captain, 40

Dafydd, 179

David, Dewi He/in, 131,
182, 184-5, 189
Olwen, 23

Diana, 77

D. Lleufer, 39

John, Cardigan, 86
„ Lampeter, 87
,, Llandyssul, 188

J. J., 128

Samuel, 106

Thomas, Cymro, 180

,, Pantydefaid, 130,
180, 188-9

Timothy, 128

T. E., 54, 177

Walter, 40

William, GtoUym Mai, 184

W. J., 128

W. W., 116

Z., 176
Thurlow, Lord Chancellor, 111
Tillotson, Arohbishop, 130
Timothy ap Bice Dewi o Wnen (see

Davies, Timothy, Merthyr)
Tout, T. R, 129-30
Troward, — , 103
Tudor, D. T., 128

Vaughan, Edward, 39, 51-2, 54

George, 40

Gwynne, 38

H. M., 207

John, 139 *

,, Dolgwm, 5, 38
„ Tyllwyd, 39
Morgan, 63, 242
Rice, 44

»»

»?

ii

ii
it
ii
ii
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ii
ii
ii
ii
ii

ii

>f

»»

>?

»»

»!

11

>»
11
11
11
11
11
11
11

Wallace, Robert, 4
Wallis, Albany, 102-4, 218

A. C, 104

J. B., 43, 102-3, 218

»»

257

Waltham, John, 107

Williams, Herbert, 177

»»

Mary, 107

, , John, Archdeacon, 29, 64,

Wesley,

Charles, 39

70, 89, 140-6, 150, 153, 167,

>» *

John, 39, 122

169

Whitfield, George, 230

„ John, Lledrod, 42, 86

Whittingham, James, 44

„ "Madoc," 106-8,

Williams, — , Meifod, 135

112

>>

— , Saethon, 126

,, ,, Penpompren, 24

»»

Anne, 177

, , , , Ystrad Meurig, 142

>>

Arthur, 54, 84, 112, 176

J; E., 147

»»

A. J., 183

,, Margaret, 177

»»

Benjamin, 177

„ Mary, 177

»»

Daniel, Dr., 108

Peter, 110, 244

»»

Daniel Gloff, 177,

„ Dr., 244

i

179

P. B., 70

j»

David, M.P., 127

Rachel, 177

»>

,, DevnFarfog,\Tl-$

Rowland, 70-2, 149, 163,

»»

,, Iwarij 180

166—174

»i

D. L., 244

Mrs., 145-6, 170

> ?

Ebenezer, 153

„ Samuel, 183

»j

Edward, Iolo Bach Glan

,, Thomas, "Black Lion,"

Teiji, 185

12, 20, 28, 35, 61

»»

Edwd., Iolo Morganwq^ 1

,, ,, Curate, 38, 57,

»»

Eliezer, 7, 64, 70, 72,

67

111-19, 126, 129, 139-40,

T. M., 177

142, 152, 157, 177, 244

Wilson, Walter, 78

» »

Esther, 139

Windham, — , 104

»»

G. A., 119, 157, 244

Windsor, 0. L. , 3

»»

G. G., Sir, 44

Woodman, Richard, 244

>>

Hefin, 185

Wylde, W., 45

33

ABERYSTWYTH: PRINTED BY WILLIAM JONES.

BY THE SAME AUTHOR.

1886. "EVENSONGS."

Privately printed, for the use of the members of the Guild of the

Good Shepherd, Liverpool.

1887. "A HISTORY OF RENSHAW STREET CHAPEL, LIVER-

POOL."

" I greatly value local memorials of this kind, when worked out with the scrupulous
care you have evidently bestowed upon this volume, and in this case the interest is
deepened by the many personal memories awakened by the text of almost every page."
— James Martineau.

"Let me thank you for the History of Renshaw Street Chapel. I am very obliged
to you for doing it, more it is not necessary to say, as I have already expressed my good
opinions of the book ; it does you much credit." — Charles Beard.

1889. " HAPPY HOURS OF WORK AND WORSHIP."
A Story of "The Pleasant Mount," Liverpool, 1874 — 1889.

"Of a deeply interesting character. A bright and sunny tone pervades it."— The
Helper.

1893. "WHITCHURCH OF LONG AGO."

" Replete with antiquarian interest."— Inquirer.

"Is a valuable addition to such records of* the parish as I possess. I heartily thank
you for it."— W. H. Bgerton, Rector of Whitchurch.

1894. "GOODLY PEARLS."

Fifty hymns often sung at the weekly children's services, in the
Church of the Saviour, Whitchurch, Salop.

1896. "RECORD OF THE PROVINCIAL ASSEMBLY OF LAN-
CASHIRE AND CHESHIRE.

Compiled and Edited at the Direction of the Assembly.

"This book deserves a hearty recommendation .... the biographies themselves are
uniformly good." — Athenwu.ni.

"Such knowledge as I have of the personnel of the Lancashire and Cheshire con-
gregations shall be freely at your disposal. Will you favour me with a call 1 "—James
Martineau.

1897. "VESTIGES OF PROTESTANT DISSENT.

>»

Being Lists of Ministers, Sacramental Plate, Registers, Antiqui-
ties, AND OTHER MATTERS PERTAINING TO MOST OF THE CHURCHES

included in the national conference of unitarian, liberal.
Christian, Free Christian, Presbyterian, and other Non-Sub-
scribing or Kindred Congregations.

With Illustrations of Pulpits, Communion Vessels, &c. , by Geo. H. Burgess.

"It is not easy to find words in which to praise sufficiently the industry and care
expended in gathering and verifying the vast mass of details before us. The volume in a
monumental one .... its future as an authority is well assured." — Inquirer.

" Hearty thanks for your valuable labours in compiling it."— James Martineau.

" Fully appreciating the value of your work."— Anna Swanvcick.

1898. "COLYTONIA: A CHAPTER IN THE HISTORY OF

DEVON."

Being some account of the Old, and George's Meetings, Colyton,

from 1662 to 1898.

Plates and Autograph Facsimiles.

" The author has had access to numerous original sources of information previously
unexplored ; .... a book of great historical value." — Western Times.

" You must have worked long and most patiently to gather up so much information,
and so many memorials of our forefathers." — James Martineau.

1899. '« MIDLAND CHURCHES."

A History of the Congregations on the Roll of the Midland

Christian Union.

Plates and Autograph Facsimiles.

"An example of the value of Mr. Evans's volume that these congregations, some

of them dating more than two centuries back, should have an authentic record of their
past is most desirable." — The Spectator.

" This fine quarto volume .... is no less valuable than the others, and contains a
great deal of interesting material respecting thirty places of worship."— Inquirer.

1900. "THE HOUSE OF PETER WELL. "
An Old Time Story.

1902. "ABERYSTWYTH AND ITS COURT LEET, 1690—1900."

With 34 original Drawings by A. Weight Matthews, J. H. Appleton,

B. A. Pugne, and E. Vincent Wareing.

" A valuable account of the antiquities of the town."— The Times.

"The author is at his best in his biographical matter .... he has the unmistakable
note of the literary gossip." — Atiienctum.

1902. "ABERYSTWYTH PRINTED BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS,

1809—1902.

Only Fifteen Copies printed for Public Libraries.

1903. "CARDIGANSHIRE: A PERSONAL SURVEY OF SOME
OF ITS ANTIQUITIES, CHAPELS, CHURCHES, FONTS,

PLATE, AND REGISTERS."

With 41 original Drawings by H. Davies-Evans, Lord Lieutenant of the

the County, and A. W eight Matthews.

" Mae ei sylwadau yn rhagorol weithiau, a chofnoda luaws o ffeithiau ynglyu a'r gwa-
hanol blwyfydd nas gwyddai hyd yn nod y trigoliou am dauynt cyn yu awr. . . . Yr ydys
yn falch o'r gyfroL"— Y Lla/i.

1898—1905 (In Progress). "ANTIQUARIAN NOTES.

jj

Frequent intervals ; 33 numbers now issued, but only to subscribers, and

those of a very limited number.

Rare copper-plate etchings, photographs, &c.

P.T.O,

BOOKS IN MANUSCRIPT COMPILED BY THE AUTHOR.

1885. "A MEMORIAL OF THE FIRST DEDICATION SERVICE
IN RENSHAW STREET CHAPEL, LIVERPOOL, 20th Nov., 1884."

Quarto, bound red morocco by Zaehnsdorf ; illuminated borders by

various artists : in author's library.

1888. "A HISTORY OF THE LIVERPOOL SUNDAY SCHOOL

SOCIETY, 1868—1888."

Royal folio, vellum .bound ; the property of the Society.

1890. "THE RECORD BOOK, CHURCH OF THE SAVIOUR,

WHITCHURCH, SALOP, 1877—1897."

Royal folio, bound blue morocco by Zaehnsdorf ; the property of the Church.

1891. "NOTES ON THE COMMUNION PLATE OF CHURCHES
ON THE ROLL OF THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE."

Folio, bound green morocco by Zaehnsdorf ; record of some 500 pieces ;
photographs, drawings, &c. ; in author's library.

1895. "THE WIDOWS' FUND OF THE PROVINCE OF LAN-
CASHIRE AND CHESHIRE, DATA OF MINISTERS, &c,
FROM END OF XVII. CENTURY TO 1895."

Extra royal folio, bound brown morocco by Zaehnsdorf ; the property of

the Widows' Fund.

1899. "CATALOGUE OF MANUSCRIPTS, &c, BELONGING TO
THE GENERAL BAPTIST ASSEMBLY, NOW IN ITS MUNI-
MENT ROOM; TEMP. XVII., XVIII., & XIX. CENTURIES."

Folio, vellum bound by Tann ; the property of the Assembly.

1897—1905. "REGISTRUM PRESBYTERIENSE :"

Particulars of, Extracts and lengthy Transcripts from some 700

non-parochial registers, 1642 — 1857, in the general registry

Office, Somerset House, W.C. : personally compiled there,

BY THE PERMIT OF THE REGISTRAR GENERAL.

Two folio volumes, bound by Fazakerley ; in author's library. May

possibly be printed by subscription.

1898-1905. "MINISTERS' BIOGRAPHIES."

Particulars of the Lives of the Ministers named in "Vestiges of

Protestant Dissent."

Fifteen volumes ; in author's library.

Tanybryn, Aberystwyth.

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